Ashes 2019: Nasser Hussain on how he'd look to get Steve Smith out, plus Stuart Broad's fine form
Sunday 8 September 2019 11:09, UK
Nasser Hussain on how he would look to dismiss run machine Steve Smith - and why Stuart Broad keeps getting David Warner out...
Mikey Holding did an excellent piece on Third Man on why he would not pack the leg side with fielders against Steve Smith, something Ted Dexter said he would do.
The problem captains face, though, is that Smith scores most of his runs on the leg side but you are asking your bowlers to operate outside off stump.
If you have boundary savers on the leg side then bowlers will, by default, go straight and he will knock you around all day.
I would hide the ball outside off, around fifth stump, not top of off, because he moves so far across. I would then have a sweeper fielder on the off side. That takes out a few dismissals but when he gets to 20 or 30, that's what I would do.
When he first come in, like everyone, try and get him out. Stuart Broad went past his edge on a number of occasions, he could have had him out half a dozen times.
You can bowl straight to him early. When you tell your bowlers straight, they often think middle and leg but straight means top of off, especially to Smith, who shuffles so far across.
The ball has done a bit in England this summer, look at the amount of left-handers Broad has been getting lbw, but England have not been able to get Smith lbw because his bat arc comes down perfectly to access the ball on the stumps.
So, when he gets in I would want an off-side sweeper and try and take the leg side out of the equation. You have to be full with that. I don't think England have pitched it up enough, I have not seen too many classic Smith cover drives.
If you bowl a length then he will murder you leg side, as he has done during an outstanding series for him.
You do not realise what you have until it is taken away from you and it was taken away from him after Cape Town and the ball-tampering ban last year. He is making up for lost time, making up for all those runs he missed out on. He is certainly cashing in.
Broad has also been mighty impressive in this series, particularly against left-handers. He is moving the ball both ways, bowling fuller and bringing lbw and bowled into play.
He has found the outside edge of David Warner's bat so Warner has gone further across and then Broad, very smartly, has nibbled in back in.
He gets bounce, his pace is up, he is bowling nearly as quick as he has ever done. He has bowled as well this summer as I have seen him in a long time which is a terrific sign, what with James Anderson's injury problems of late.
I would not say Broad lives in Jimmy's shadow - Stuart is the sort of bloke who does not think he is in anyone's shadow - but Anderson has been top dog and leader of the attack for a number of years.
When he is not there, Stuart seems to like the extra responsibility but he always likes responsibility. I would have him in every Ashes series because you need people you want to go into the trenches with. Broad is one of those, without doubt.
Jofra Archer has had an up-and-down game meanwhile but he is in his third Test match - people have to remember that. Bowling fast is not easy - if it was, everyone would be doing it.
We should not get confused. Just because he bowled at 95mph at Lord's does not mean he is a 95mph bowler. He is around 90-plus with the odd ball up at 95.
Bowling coach Chris Silverwood is right, we need to cut Archer some slack. For any young cricketer the ups and downs on the graph are more exaggerated, much more than someone like Broad. Considering the summer Archer has had, he is allowed to have an off day.
Warner's form is at the bottom of the graph with three ducks in a row. It is now for Australia to decide what sort of state he is in mentally and whether there is a doubt about him for the Oval Test.
It is more difficult when it is one bowler, as it is with Broad for Warner. That's always going to be the battle, it's always going to be around the wicket.
In a five-match series, when you cannot get away from that bowler, it is very difficult. I speak from experience with Courtney Walsh, Michael Atherton will speak from experience with Glenn McGrath.
You just have to strap your pads on and convince yourself this time you will be able to do it. It is more mental than technical for Warner.
Warner was one those to go as a lot of effort from England got Australia four down at tea on day four and themselves back into the game, to a degree.
Archer and Broad were bowling magnificently and the crowd was rocking, so you would have thought that they would have pushed harder for the next 40 minutes.
You cannot just go Archer and Broad again after they have both bowled nine overs before the break but give them three overs each at one end with Jack Leach at the other.
Craig Overton is a fine bowler but he is not Broad or Archer.
There were other things, too, such as not having a short leg when Leach was bowling into the rough to Matthew Wade, who he has got out that way before.
You immediately sensed that England were sitting in. That quietened the crowd down. The enthusiasm and fever that had been created just died down and the moment was gone, even when Broad came back on after that.
With Smith starring again, and now with Rory Burns and Joe Root out ate in the day, England will need a massive effort to save the series on Sunday.
Watch day five of the fourth Test between England and Australia from 10am on Sky Sports The Ashes.
