Ashes: Steve Smith says he 'enjoyed captaincy' in second Test

Stand-in skipper Steve Smith said he enjoyed leading his country to victory in the second Test of the Ashes 2021-22 series.

Australia stand-in skipper Steve Smith on Monday (December 20) said that he enjoyed leading the side in the second Ashes Test at the Adelaide Oval. Jhye Richardson scalped five wickets in the second innings as Australia defeated England by 275 runs in the second Ashes Test. With this win, Australia has gained a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.

The Boxing Day Test will begin on December 26 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). "I wasn't nervous. I think Jos played very well and played over 200 balls, so it was good resistance along with Chris Woakes and Robbo (Ollie Robinson). We wanted to stay calm because it would take a couple of good balls and a couple of wickets to get the win. I did enjoy captaincy and the guys played well and controlled the game after the first day. Davey (David Warner) and Marnus`s partnership set it up, so we could control the game," Smith said after the game.

"A special mention to Starc, who has bowled as well as he's bowled in a long time, and he's led the attack really well. I think he summed it up quickly that it wasn't swinging and he was just hitting a good length and attacking the batsmen. The guys in there said Cam Green shouldn't bowl at all today, because his workload needs to be managed. Ideally, he shouldn't have bowled today, but we needed him to bowl because of how good he has been," he added.