Ashes banter heating up as Steve Smith gives cracking reply to Stuart Broad: 'Hopefully, 65 by end of summer'

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With Ashes 2023 fast approaching, Steve Smith and Stuart Broad have already started to warm up by getting involved in a pre-Ashes banter. It all started with England quick Broad claiming the 2021-22 edition was not a "real Ashes", adding that he has written it off as a void series.

Broad justified his statement by saying that players in the England squad could not deliver to their potential due to the Covid-19 restrictions which were in place during the series. Notably, England lost the series 4-0 back then.

“Nothing was harsher than the last Ashes series,” Broad told the Daily Mail on Thursday.

“But in my mind, I don’t class that as a real Ashes. The definition of Ashes cricket is an elite sport with lots of passion and players at the top of their game.

“Nothing about that series was high-level performance because of the Covid restrictions. The training facilities, the travel, not being able to socialise. I've written it off as a void series," he added.

Smith-Broad pre-Ashes banter

In the same interview, Broad also tried to challenge Australia batters, saying that he would love to see them use the 'Bazball' approach. The high-risk, high-reward approach has seen England play fast, aggressive and entertaining cricket to win 10 of their last 12 Test matches under captain Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum.

“Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne and Usman Khawaja are all guys who like to bat time and accumulate. So if we can nibble away at them and just get them thinking, 'Why are we not scoring quicker? Why are we not moving the game forward?’.

“I’d love Smith to dance down the track and sky one to mid-off early doors. That would be classic.”

Cricket.com.au took the snippet of Broad's comment regarding Smith and posted it on Instagram. The 36-year-old replied to the post saying that England love to see the back of Australian batting mainstay Steve Smith "because he averages 60".

Smith, who averages 59.68 in 32 Ashes appearances, was quick to reply to Broad's comment.

"Hopefully, 65 by the end of the summer," Smith commented. The right-hander had scored 774 runs at 110.57 the last time Australia travelled to England for the Ashes.

The Ashes 2023 kicks off from June 16. The first Test will be played at the Edgbaston in Birmingham.