Ashes 2025-26: "They have got things the wrong way around…"- Steve Smith mocks England's pace-attack ahead of Perth test

Steve Smith will captain Australia in the first test of The Ashes 2025-26 in Perth.

Australia‘s stand-in captain Steve Smith believes that England Cricket Team have come to Australia with the wrong bowling attack for The Ashes 2025-26, saying that seamers would have been more effective than pacers. England have their quickest bowling line-up for The Ashes, with most of their pacers touching the speed of 145km/hr.

Pacers like Mark Wood, Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Josh Tongue, and Brydon Carse are part of England’s squad for the much-awaited test series. All-rounder Ben Stokes will add more depth to their pace attack.

Notably, former England bowlers James Anderson and Stuart Broad relied more on swing and seam, which helped them to taste immense success in the longer format and dominate on foreign tours. While Broad announced his retirement after the Ashes 2023, Anderson pulled the curtains down on his international career in 2024.

They might have got things the wrong way around: Steve Smith on England’s bowling attack

During a conversation with ESPN Cricinfo ahead of the Perth test, Smith said that seamers would have been more effective on Australian pitches and England have picked the wrong bowling attack for the Ashes 2025-26. The 36-year-old also added that many Australian batters are effective against fast bowling, which would pose a big challenge for the visitors.

“Those sort of nibblers can be quite tricky. So they might have got things the wrong way around, if that makes sense, in terms of the pace from previous years. But obviously they’ve got those guys at their disposal now. They probably weren’t fit, ready or old enough a few years back,” he said.

“If you can do both (pace and seam), that’s a good skill. But sometimes the slower guys are almost harder to play on those wickets where you have to make the pace. It’s going to be different. But I think we’ve got plenty of players that play fast bowling well, and it’s going to be a good challenge,” Smith added.

Meanwhile, Smith will captain Australia in the first test at the Optus Stadium in Perth as their regular captain Pat Cummins has been ruled out of the clash due to his back injury. He is expected to join the squad for the second game at The Gabba in Brisbane. On Wednesday, Australia faced another blow as seam all-rounder Sean Abbott was ruled out of the first test due to a hamstring injury.

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