While the visitors look to make a comeback in the ongoing tournament after losing the last encounter dramatically, they had a sigh of relief as Smith is likely to return for the next face-off. At the same time, captain Tim Paine feels that his predecessor’s return could be decisive in Australias quest to retain the Ashes.
“Without Steven Smith playing I don't think we were given any chance of winning that Test match, so without Steve Smith playing I think most people wrote us off in that Test, so we're tracking ok,” Paine was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.
“You have the best player in the world coming back into your line-up,” said Paine, admitting that Smith's return would strengthen their case.
“We're sticking to our plans and our process, I think it's working quite well and I said in post-match we've been in a position to win every game so if we continue to do those things and tidy up a few things we didn't quite get right at the end there then we think we'll be in the thick of it in Manchester and at the Oval.”
Paine was asked how to get Stokes out, and he pointed as Lyon to be their main weapon against the England allrounder.
“We've looked at it, I think Nathan Lyon in the last two Tests alone had got him out five or six times had we held our catches or referred our LBWs. Lyon's still a huge weapon against him, and there's some things we've spoken about with our fast bowlers where we think we can do things a little better,” he said.