Stuart Broad was brutally honest after England’s latest defeat in Test cricket. He confessed that he doesn’t even know how to correctly get rid of Australian batsman Steve Smith yet. During the course of the Ashes series, Broad told his teammates that it was essential to remove Smith’s wicket at the start of each Test match. He cautioned that failure to do so would mean a “long old series” for England.
At 36 years old, Smith generally has an impressive Ashes batting average of 56.01. He’s unique in having scored 12 centuries in a series of this kind of Banda Aceh. Indeed, his overall career average is even more impressive at 56.02. It climbs to an even more intimidating 59.70 when he is the home team. Only Ricky Ponting has surpassed Smith’s tally of 36 Test centuries for Australia, highlighting the significant impact Smith has had on the game.
Broad has now dismissed Smith 11 times in Test matches, Broad is now Smith’s most prolific bowler. Unfortunately, he has had great success in making the Australian very rare. He said that Smith’s style has changed in the course of his career, which is what is making it harder for the bowlers today.
“Obviously [Smith’s] technique’s changed throughout, but I still can’t sit here and go ‘well this is how you get him out’,” Broad stated. This concession is an acknowledgement of the mighty battle that bowlers have had against Smith, especially in Test series’ past.
England’s approach to Smith over the years has been a mixed bag. During the lost 2019 home Test series at the beginning of this pandemic, they went for his pads. They bowled constantly wide of off stump and tried to create catching opportunities at leg gully. Broad shared insights into the challenges posed by Smith’s batting style, saying, “Nicking him off from back of a length, just chasing it.” He further added that Jofra Archer is amazing at making angles. Given Smith’s tendency to leave himself exposed, this would be the perfect skill to help him capitalize on those weaknesses.
Jofra Archer has a special talent for getting that ball to rear back into your stumps. Can he send one swinging away? Smith is looking forward to that nip-backer. Broad explained.
Nevertheless, no matter what they have done, despite these efforts, England has never been able to stop Smith’s scoring prowess. Broad highlighted the value of chipping Smith out in his first 40 runs. If England don’t, they could be in for a long, hard series. “If England aren’t celebrating in his first 40 runs, it’s going to be a long series,” he stated.
Broad highlighted how remarkable it is that a player of Smith’s caliber can make runs even against tight bowling. “That’s an unbelievable strength of his. He’s incredibly difficult to bowl at. You know, like sometimes you don’t think you’ve bowled a shit ball and it still bowls four,” he said.
Don’t expect to stop Smith, but England needs a plan to minimize his damage. They all understand that getting his average under 50 would be considered a success. Broad noted, “To win the series, we have to keep him [his average] to under 50, don’t we?”
Smith’s recent run of form has thrown another spanner in the works for the Englishman. Having gone on a torturous run of 23 innings without a Test century from June 2023 to December 2024, the recovery was all the more remarkable. After making two hundreds against India last winter, he built on that form by making 141 and 131 against Sri Lanka at the start of 2025.
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