"I feel strong.."- Steve Smith declares himself fully ready for the ICC WTC 2023-25 final against South Africa

Steve Smith will be a crucial batsman for Australia in the ICC WTC 2023-25 final.

Australia Cricket Team and South Africa Cricket Team are preparing for the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 final. Both teams have reached England, where the summit clash will be played at Lord’s Cricket Ground in London from June 11.

Notably, many Australian and South African players, who are part of the ICC WTC 2023-25 final, were busy in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 recently. The tournament was extended for almost a week and concluded on June 3. Aussie members like Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Pat Cummins, and Travis Head played a part in the league. While Proteas members like Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton, Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen were also part of the tournament.

Australia batter Steve Smith was not part of IPL 2025. However, the right-handed batsman was on a break for the last three months and was recently back for practice sessions. However, he is one of the crucial members for Australia in the batting department with over 10,000 test runs in his kitty.

I feel like I’m moving really well – Steve Smith ahead of ICC WTC 2023-25 final

Despite his long break from cricket, Steve Smith is ready to showcase his might in the ICC WTC 2023-25 final. During a chat with ESPN Cricinfo, the veteran batter said he feels strong to get into the flow with his batting.

“I’d normally have a bat laying around the house somewhere and just pick it up and do a bit of shadow batting and stuff. But I made a conscious decision to try and just let it go for a while. It was good”, the right-handed batsman said.

“I hadn’t hit a ball since I missed a full toss off Mohammed Shami in the Champions Trophy. Fortunately, everything sort of clicked into place immediately. I feel like I’m moving really well, I feel strong and just ready to get into it now”, he added.

Speaking about playing in England, Steve Smith said he loves to play on the back foot in the English conditions.

“I play a lot of back foot shots here, I don’t tend to get too far forward to the ball. I try and score really square of the wicket. It kind of just suits me in a way. Hopefully can kick off where I left off the last couple of Tests that we played [in Sri Lanka]”, the 36-year-old noted.

Smith last played a test match against Sri Lanka in February. The right-handed batsman slammed two centuries in the away series and also won the Player of the Series award. He owns a wonderful average of 55.0 on English soil. Notably, Smith slammed a stunning century in the previous ICC WTC 2021-23 final against India.

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