Stuart Broad believes England are getting under Steve Smith’s skin and remain ‘in control’ of first Ashes Test

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Tom Collomosse25 November 2017

Stuart Broad believes England are getting under Steve Smith’s skin despite the Australia captain’s century that threatens to decide the first Ashes Test.

Smith made an unbeaten 141 to help Australia to 328 all out, a lead of 26. At the close, England were 33 for two in their second innings, only seven runs ahead and with Alastair Cook and James Vince back in the pavilion. Mark Stoneman and captain Joe Root – who was examined by the doctor after being struck on the helmet by a Mitchell Starc bouncer – survived until the close.

Smith barely gave a chance in more than eight and a half hours at the crease, in the face of some innovative England field placings that Smith three times labelled “defensive” at the post-play press conference.

When Smith’s words were relayed to him, Broad said: “Perfect. We know they like to score quickly. If we can restrict them from scoring boundaries, we'll have periods of taking wickets.

“The pitch is slow, flat, and it’s hard to get movement with the ball. A seamer's job is to restrict scoring and if they had got away from us we'd have put pressure on ourselves.

“We're in a lot of control after three days. It's in our hands to bat big on Sunday, set them above 250, 300 on final day pitch. The fewer balls we can bowl at Smith, the better for us.”

Broad did, however, challenge his batsmen to follow Smith’s lead. No England player made a century in the first innings, with Vince’s 83 the highest score.

The England quick also played down injury concerns about his new-ball partner Jimmy Anderson, who spent time off the field and did not bowl at key times of the match. He finished with two for 50, with Broad taking three for 49.

Broad said: “I don't know where this mystery injury has come from. He's not moaned about anything or said he was sore or injured.”

Smith believes the hundred was one of his best but warned his team-mates that batting might be hard work for the rest of the series.

Besides Smith, only Shaun Marsh (51) and Pat Cummins (42) made a substantial contribution with the bat, although Australia were still able to add 119 for the final three wickets.

Smith said: “I thought England were pretty defensive from the outset. It was as if they were waiting for batsmen to make mistakes. Unfortunately four of the top five did. It felt very defensive.

“It might be a series where boundaries are hard to come by. If you bat for long enough, you rotate the strike, you get bad balls as bowlers get tired. I thought they were defensive pretty early.”

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