Some players were at the IPL. Others were in county cricket. Those at home trained in Brisbane. Steven Smith , meanwhile, spent time in New York and picked up a bat for the first time in three months just a few days ago. Then he promptly walked out of his first net session and told head coach Andrew McDonald: "Can we play tomorrow, I'm ready to go."

The Australia set-up allows players to tailor preparation to what they want and when you've scored over 10,000 Test runs you can be trusted to know what's best. But for a batting obsessive like Smith, not picking up the willow for so long still went against the grain as they didn't see the light of day while he was in America where he worked extensively on a fitness regime with a new personal trainer. Smith, who turned 36 last week, said h

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