Follow UsNo Pat Cummins, no Mitchell Starc and no Josh Hazlewood - Australia are without their frontline pace attack in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, but skipper Steve Smith isn’t too worried and is happy to work with whatever he has at his disposal. Australia are set to commence their campaign against England in Lahore on February 22 (Saturday).
“I mean, I'm pretty relaxed. There's always pressure when you're playing in international events and big tournaments. So, yeah, look, I think it's clear we're obviously missing a few of our gun fast bowlers, but we're not worried about that. We're thinking about what we've got here and the opportunity that those guys have,” said Smith.
“There's some quality players in that room that are playing in almost their first big event, I suppose, which they're looking forward to and I'm looking forward to as well. I think it's going to be great to see them placed under pressure against some quality opposition, and yeah, it's going to be an exciting time for us. Yeah looking forward to it.”
Australia have a completely new pace attack with Sean Abbott, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis and Spencer Johnson. “It's a little bit different. I've played for ten years plus with those guys (Cummins, Hazlewood and Starc) around so it's a little bit different, but yeah, as I alluded to before, I think it's great opportunity for some of these younger guys to showcase their skills in a world event.
“I'm looking forward to it. I think they've been placed under pressure in many different scenarios, whether it be T20 cricket or different T20 franchise things around the world. They've played in high-pressure scenarios so yeah I'm looking forward to seeing how that stacks up, I suppose in a world event against some quality players too.”