Stuart Broad warned England they are in for a "long series" at the Ashes if they cannot dismiss Australia's Steve Smith early on.

Smith is back at number four in the batting order after a brief stint as an opener, and averages 56.01 against England, only slightly lower than his 59.7 across his Australia career.

The 36-year-old has scored 3,417 runs against England in total, with a high score of 239 – in Perth in 2017.

Smith has played in every Ashes series since 2010-11 and was the leading scorer in both 2017-18 and 2019, with scores of 687 and 744 respectively, both of which came when Broad was still in the England ranks.

Broad dismissed Smith on 11 occasions and highlighted that England's chances could hinge on stopping him before he can find his rhythm.

"To win the series, we have to keep him [his average] to under 50, don't we?" Broad said on the For the Love of Cricket podcast.

"He's gonna score a hundred. It's what he does.

 

 

 

 

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"[If] he averages 40, that's at least 15 under his career average, so you're doing brilliantly. I think you have to get him early.

"If England aren't celebrating in his first 40 runs, it's going to be a long series."

Smith's form dipped slightly between June 2023 and December 2024, going 23 innings without a Test hundred, but then made two against India, before getting 141 and 131 against Sri Lanka in January.

Broad urged England to be cautious as well, though, highlighting Smith's excellent ability to keep the momentum on his side.

"I remember he got this big two hundred, and I did not miss the middle of his bat for three days," Broad said.

"Every ball I tried to bowl just hit the middle of his bat.

"He's got that mindset of 'OK, this pitch suits me, and I'm not getting out'.

"Obviously, [Smith's] technique's changed throughout, but I still can't sit here and go 'well, this is how you get him out'.

"That's an unbelievable strength of his. He's incredibly difficult to bowl at. Sometimes you don't feel like you've bowled a bad ball, and it still goes for four."