Subcontinent tours challenge players physically, mentally and emotionally: Smith

Sydney - It has almost been a decade since Australia tasted Test series success in Asia

Australia batsman Steve Smith has said that he is looking forward to the subcontinent Test tours in the coming two years as they challenge a player physically, mentally and emotionally.

In the second World Test Championship (WTC) cycle, Australia will play eight Tests in the sub-continent, four against India and two each against Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

“I have had a look at the Future Tours Programme and it is pretty hectic, so there is plenty to look forward to, obviously including the Ashes and then tours to the subcontinent which, particularly in Test cricket, they challenge you physically, mentally and emotionally. They are great tours to be involved in and really test you as a player. I am certainly looking forward to those,” Smith told cricket.com.au.

“I think (the WTC) is a pretty cool concept - to have more relevance in every game you play, I think is great. We were obviously very disappointed not to be in the final, and over the last couple of years we talked about it being our focus of where we wanted to get to, but we fell short. So we have got some work to do as a team to give ourselves the best chance to be there next time,” he added.

It has almost been a decade since Australia tasted Test series success in Asia. It was Michael Clarke’s side that beat Sri Lanka 1-0 in a three-match series.

Australia will lock horns against England in the Ashes this year. Since the Test series against India, Australia have not played any Test and they would play just one against Afghanistan ahead of the five-match series against the Three Lions.

“It has been a bit of a bizarre year obviously, and Covid has not helped a lot of situations in every industry. But yeah, after our series against India, I think England were going to play 13 Tests to our zero, which seems a lot,” said Smith.

“As someone that loves Test cricket, I would love to play as much as we can, but I am not in control of scheduling,” he added.