A wry smile accompanied most of Steven Smith's responses in his interaction with the media, here on Tuesday. The all-rounder, handling searching posers with ease, struck a positive note about New South Wales' ability to adapt to the conditions in Chennai.
“We have come over here a couple of days early to get used to the conditions. I thought the wicket out in the middle is quite similar to the way the (wickets in the) nets are playing. The boys are getting used to the conditions and hopefully now we are all acclimatised and ready.”
The 22-year-old noted that the absence of Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo in the Trinidad and Tobago ranks would favour his team.
“Obviously Pollard and Bravo are extremely good players. So without them, I guess that's going to only help us. But we need to worry about our games, the way we approach the game tomorrow.”
On the middle-order's failure to force the issue in the game against Cape Cobras, Smith said the slowness of the wicket didn't assist shot-making.
“I thought the other day was quite difficult. The ball got soft pretty early but definitely I think boundaries are the way to go early on with the newer ball. We will assess the conditions and assess the way we need to play. We have got some big, strong boys (in the middle order). (Moises) Henriques has cleared the boundaries plenty of times in his career.”
