Flu-ridden Steve Smith laments lack of big partnerships as England take control of final Test

NICK FRIEND AT THE OVAL: The talismanic batsman, who moved to a record-breaking 10th successive score above 50 with his contribution to his side’s effort, reserved special praise for Sam Curran

Steve Smith admitted his Australia side had not been at its best during the opening two days of the final Ashes Test at The Oval, but backed his teammates to come from behind to win a game that would secure a series victory.

Smith, as has been the norm since the first morning of the five-match contest at Edgbaston, seemed to be playing an entirely different game from his fellow batsmen, despite suffering from flu in so doing.

He made 80, watching five of his partners fall while he was at the other end, before he was trapped in front by Chris Woakes, 20 runs short of a fourth century of the series.

“I felt pretty good at the crease,” he said of his 145-ball knock, which included nine boundaries and a six over midwicket off the bowling of Jack Leach.

“I've been struggling a little bit today, I've got a little bit of the flu. I just tried to stay as focused as I could be throughout the day. Unfortunately I couldn't bat with the tail for as long as I would have liked.”

A ninth wicket partnership of 37 between Peter Siddle and Nathan Lyon took the tourists closer to England’s first innings effort of 294, though Smith admitted he was frustrated to fall as he did, leaving the tail without a recognised batsman alongside them.

“[It] would have been good if I could have stayed out there for a little bit longer and done something [similar] to what Jos did with their tail, get the runs a bit closer together. I felt pretty good again today, unfortunately missed out on three figures again.

“England bowlers bowled pretty well,” he added. “Sam Curran generated some nice swing and bowled a pretty good spell there. Unfortunate that we weren't able to put together at least one more good partnership to get ourselves a bit nearer the tally. It wasn't to be.

“It hasn't been easy for the batters throughout this series, we haven't seen any huge totals really throughout the whole series. It's not been easy, there's always been something there, I've felt. If you bowl in good areas for long enough, we've seen you'll get rewards.

“Players that probably haven't done as well as they would have liked on this tour will take a lot from the experience. Playing in England's completely different to back home, you've got to find ways to play away from home.

“Sometimes you've got to change certain little things that can help you play in certain conditions and adapt accordingly. I think it will be a good learning curve for all of our batters.”

^{Chris Woakes dismissed Steve Smith for 80}

Despite the 78-run deficit, Australia’s bowlers created enough chances during a four-over spell at Joe Denly and Rory Burns shortly before the close to suggest that victory may not be beyond the prospects of Tim Paine’s side.

Marcus Harris dropped Denly at gully, while Burns was hit by a nasty short delivery from Pat Cummins, before being given out to the last ball of the day, only to see the lbw decision overturned on review.

“We've let go of a few chances throughout this Test match,” Smith lamented. “Even on day one after sending the opposition in, we probably didn't execute as well as we would have liked with the ball but we also created chances and didn't take them.

“That hasn't been ideal throughout this Test match, however, we're only 75 runs behind, teams have come back and won from this margin before and we've created another opportunity tonight. I think it's going to pivotal for us to bowl really well with the new ball in the morning.”

The talismanic batsman, who moved to a record-breaking 10th successive score above 50 with his contribution to his side’s effort, reserved special praise for Curran.

Although it was Chris Woakes who ultimately dismissed Smith, the left-armer bowled beautifully at him in two separate spells, testing the quirks of his unusual technique.

“What the left-armers do, when they do it well, they bring the ball back into the right-hander and it's kind of an unnatural angle perhaps for a right-hander, you didn't see it very often, there's only a handful of people that do it, I guess, around the world,” he explained.

“He bowled some nice balls today, used the swing when he had it and held it the other way and let it go across you. As a right-hander you know that that ones always there, the possibility of bringing back. I thought he bowled pretty well and got some rewards.”