The man at the top of the Aussie hitlist

29 June 2015 - 02:04 By ©The Daily Telegraph

England's cricketers arrived at the Desert Springs golf resort in Spain on Saturday where bowlers will formulate plans to stop Steve Smith, the Australian batsman who has marched to No1 in the world. The five-star resort in Almeira boasts its own cricket academy and six grass nets with full run-ups.England's director of cricket, Andrew Strauss, organised the trip believing pre-series bonding breaks are crucial in the build-up to the Ashes in two weeks' time.New England coach Trevor Bayliss will bring inside knowledge as the man who helped build Smith's defence at New South Wales after he lost his place in the Australian team before his remarkable resurgence."He's obviously had a fantastic 18 months since he's changed his technique a bit. I've got a few ideas to run past a few players that seem to think it might be a good option," said England bowler Stuart Broad."But I think it's an advantage for us with him coming in at No3 with the Dukes ball in England."With the ball moving around in England we know how hard it is to bat in that top three. I'm certainly not doubting the quality of him as a player."But you have to have a very tight technique to bat in the top three against the Dukes ball in England and it's up to us as an opening attack to get an early wicket and get him in early against the new ball because he's not had amazing success in England." ..

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