MELBOURNE: Mas­ter batsman Steve Smith says Australia have ‘unfi­nished business’ in Engl­and, with the achiev­em­ent of retaining the Ashes last year tempered by defeat in the final Test that levelled the series 2-2.

Tim Paine’s Australia retained the urn in Engl­and for the first time since 2001, earning a hero’s reception back home, but the loss at The Oval left a sour taste for Smith.

“To know that we’d got the Ashes back was pretty special,” he said in comments published on Cricket Australia’s website. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t win them which is something I’d still like to do. From my personal perspective, I think it’s unfinished business.

“It’s great to retain the Ashes but it just doesn’t sit right with me when you don’t win it. So I probably left at the end of the fifth Test [feeling] more disappointed than a sense of achievement.”

Smith was awarded the Compton-Miller Medal as man-of-the-series after scoring 774 runs at an average of 110.57 from four Tests.

Published in Dawn, August 6th, 2020