Ashes 2015: ‘Joker’ Smith eager to have last laugh, hits back at critics

London: When Steven Smith made his Ashes debut in Perth during England’s victorious 2010/11 tour of Australia he was, following prompting from then captain Ricky Ponting, clear on his role in the team.

“I’ve been told that I’ve got to come into the side and be fun,” Smith said. “For me, it’s about having energy in the field and making sure I’m having fun and making sure everyone else around is having fun, whether it be telling a joke or something like that.”

It seemed an extraordinary thing for him to say in public. His words didn’t seem to offer much hope of a lengthy career for a leg-spinning all-rounder, particularly one with an unorthodox batting technique, and were duly mocked by England.

“I remember Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell getting into me quite a bit,” Smith, now Australia’s vice-captain, told reporters as he recalled his first experience of playing against England.

“I don’t think they really rated the way I played... Maybe I’ve changed their views now.” “I’ve enjoyed batting at three and had a bit of success there against West Indies but over here will be a bigger challenge,” added Smith.

“(England) is probably one of the harder places in the world to bat against the new ball and I’m going to have to make sure my game is ready to go,” added Smith ahead of the first Test against England in Cardiff starting on Wednesday.