Australia captain Steve Smith has acknowledged that the exhausting Ashes series took a toll on his body and he needed a desperate break after that. He stated that he was completely exhausted after the one-day series, Smith went on to add that the time-off has helped him regain his mental strength and he is ready for the forthcoming challenge – tour to South Africa.

During a recent chat with cricbuzz, Smith said, “I needed it (a break). I was absolutely ruined after the one-dayers. It takes a lot out of you, an Ashes series. Particularly with every Test match going five days and the extra pressures and everything that comes with an Ashes series. I was certainly feeling it mentally. And the last 10 or 12 days that I’ve had off, it’s been great.”

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He further added, “I haven’t picked up a bat and now I’m keen to get the bat back in my hands which probably means it’s been good and I’m ready to go for what’s going to be an exciting tour of South Africa.”

One of the notable things was that Smith’s average was just 20 in the ODI series loss. Reflecting on his performance, the number one-ranked Test batsman said, “You could probably see it in the one-dayers that we played, the guys that had played Test cricket throughout the summer were probably just not quite at their best mentally – just a bit fatigued.”

Smith further elaborated, “We probably saw that in our T20 performances – the guys that came in fresh and had been playing a bit of white-ball cricket in the Big Bash, those were the guys that were playing some good cricket.”

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The Australian skipper concluded by stating the fact that the break ahead of the South Africa tour will help the team, he said, “It’s been good that the Test guys have been able to have a little bit of a break and freshen up and really hit the ground running when we get to South Africa.”

Steve Smith recently shared the limelight on Australian cricket’s awards night with Ellyse Perry, who won her second Belinda Clark Award. The star all-rounder beat out Beth Mooney and Megan Schutt for the top prize in Australian women’s cricket.