Steve Smith will continue to attack Moeen Ali despite first Test troubles

Steve Smith insists he will continue to target Moeen Ali despite being dismissed by the England spinner in Australia's opening Investec Ashes Test defeat in Cardiff.

The Australia No 3 enjoyed some early success against Moeen in the first innings, skipping down and hitting him for three fours in one over before getting into trouble as he looked to advance again - spooning a leading edge to Alastair Cook at short mid-on. 

But the world No 1 batsman believes it is important to continue to attack Moeen and says he will do so in the second Test at Lord's this week.

"It's just about playing a little bit smarter," he told Sky Sports News HQ. "I was pre-empting coming down the wicket a little bit and he probably saw that and dragged it down leg side and got me into a bit of a tangle. 

"I've got my plans for him in the series. I'm not going to shy away from attacking him. That's the best way to get their quicks back on a little bit sooner and hopefully tire them out, so I'm still going to go after him quite a bit."

I've got my plans for him in the series. I'm not going to shy away from attacking him.

Smith believes Australia can take heart from their successful World Cup campaign, when they lost to New Zealand in the group stage before beating the Black Caps in the final.

"We got outplayed in every facet of the game, so it's disappointing to have lost the first Test match, but we know what we need to do now," he added.

"We know what England are going to come at us with. It's good to get that out of the way hopefully.

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"It'a little kick up the backside and hopefully from here on in we can continue to play the cricket that we've been playing over the last 12-18 months and I'm sure if we do that we'll continue to have a lot of success on this tour."

Australia paceman Mitchell Starc needed pain-killing injections to finish the game after suffering an ankle injury in the first innings, but Smith expects the left-armer to be fit for Lord's.

"I think he's getting better. He was in a bit of pain in that Test match but he is improving so hopefully he'll be alright for that second Test match."

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