Quotes from Steve Smith

It's great to retain the Ashes but it just doesn't sit right with me when you don't win it.

It really gave me a lot of confidence to know that I could score runs against some really good bowlers.

My job is to score runs and hopefully I can continue to do that.

It's just about getting those runs on the board and the more I can do that, the more I can put my name up there.

I'm not in the game for personal accolades. I'm here to do my job and score as many runs for the team as I can.

You can't score runs if you're sitting in the dressing room.

I think that's the way we play our best cricket, when we're aggressive, we're in the fight together, we're hunting as a pack as one and we're working for each other and backing our mates up on the field. That's part of being an Australian, in my opinion.

I think the Australian public would love to see the best Australian team on the park for every game. It's difficult to do that with the schedule and how much we play.

When you've got off to a good start and you've got wickets in the shed you've got to keep trying to take the game on.

I don't like being back in the sheds, I prefer being out in the middle and just doing my thing.

I've copied a bit of what AB de Villiers does. The way I go back and across to open myself up and set myself for the shots.

It depends upon the make-up of the team where I'm going to bat.

I look at some of the best players around the world and sometimes I do try and bat like them.

I don't like watching others batting and scoring runs I could be scoring. It is nice to see guys being successful but at the same time I want to be the one out there doing it.

I've just aimed to go out with a clear mind; to try not to premeditate my shots and if I'm going to play a few big shots I try to have a few deliveries under my belt first; have my eye in a bit better.

Obviously, I did not start my Test career too well. With the bat, I was probably not quite ready to play at that stage. I was happy to go back to first-class system and learn my game a bit more, honing my skills, particularly my defence and patience.

I've performed pretty well in the games I've captained Australia in and hopefully I can keep it up.

I think everyone is vulnerable to a moving ball. It's about just trying to find a way to have a solid defence and a game plan that can work in those conditions.

I've certainly had some difficult days. But it's OK to be vulnerable.

We don't go out there to try and lose games of cricket, we go out there to try and win and play the best way we can.

I try to be as honest as I can and that's the best way to do things.

I think the higher you can bat in your Shield team, if you're doing well there the better off you're going to be for batting anywhere in the Test line-up or any of the line-ups.

In Australia you can be a little bit more attacking, in places on the subcontinent you've got to find ways to get batsmen out, you might have to bore them out.

I have always seen myself more as a batsman than a bowler.