Smith told to expect 'Bodyline' from England quicks

[Booed Off Stage]

Smith told to expect 'Bodyline' from England quicks

[Getty Images]

Australia batter Steve Smith has been warned to expect Bodyline bowling from England's pace attack in the forthcoming Ashes.

Former Australia opener Simon Katich has predicted England coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes will deploy an approach akin to the controversial tactics to unsettle the 36-year-old.

Smith has scored 3,417 runs in 37 Tests against England at an average of 56.01, including 12 centuries and is seen as a pivotal player for Australia.

"They [Stokes and McCullum] will have seen what the New Zealand did to Steve Smith a few years ago so successfully in Australia," Katich told BBC Radio 5 Live's Ashes preview show.

"I would be surprised if that wasn't the same plan. As soon as Steve Smith came to the crease there were fielders scattered everywhere. I hate to use the word 'Bodyline' but that's exactly what it was, really."

In the 2019 Ashes, England fast bowler Jofra Archer hit Smith on the helmet with a 92mph bouncer during the Lord's Test, which resulted in Marnus Labuschagne becoming Test cricket's first concussion substitute.

Smith subsequently missed the next Test at Headingley through concussion.

"Neil Wagner executed it [for New Zealand] and went hard from the word go. Albeit not the same pace as England have got up their sleeves," added Katich, who played 56 Tests and 45 one-day internationals for Australia.

"I'd be very surprised if that doesn't hit Steve Smith and maybe other Australian batters who are later in the careers in the next few weeks."

England won the Ashes in Australia in 1932-33 under the captaincy of Douglas Jardine using bowling tactics which targeted a batter's body with short-pitched deliveries known as fast leg theory but coined as Bodyline.

The approach led to ill feeling between England and Australia and prompted a change to the laws.

Source: Smith told to expect 'Bodyline' from England quicks