Pleased Smith wants more from pace attack

For once, Steven Smith had other people to talk about. Joe Burns, tick. Usman Khawaja, tick. David Warner, tick, tick, boom. So much went perfectly for Australia in this win over New Zealand that it was easy to overlook one thing that didn't: Smith himself didn't so much as score a half-century. It mattered not. In fact, it was kind of a good thing. It meant others had carried the batting load.

This was Australia's tenth Test victory since the start of last year, and just the second time in those ten games that Smith had failed to pass fifty - the lowish-scoring win over West Indies in Dominica last year was the only other. In fact, in seven of them, Smith had scored first-innings hundreds that helped set up the wins: 115, 100, 162*, 133, 199, 215, 143.

It was not surprising, then, that Smith's decision to move down the order from No.3 to No.4 for this series was a subject of much debate. The lack of experience in the top three could have been the source of some hope among the New Zealanders: Burns opening in a Test for the first time, Khawaja having a third crack at Test cricket at first drop.

The result? A first-innings ton for Khawaja, a second-innings hundred for Burns. Not to mention a century in each innings for Warner. It meant there was little for Smith to do except suffer a case of pad rash. He came to the crease at 2 for 311 in the first innings and struck 48, and walked out at 2 for 254 in the second and fell for 1.

"They did a terrific job," Smith said. "It was tough early on day one and for Davey and Joe to get through that period was really crucial for us. The partnerships we had in the top three were crucial to our success for this Test match. It enabled me to come out and play quite freely at No.4. I thought they really set the game up for us."

The numbers were quite staggering. It was the first time in Australia's 781-Test history that they had raised century opening partnerships in each innings of a Test. More than 80% of Australia's runs in the Test came from their top three batsmen alone. Life without Chris Rogers and Michael Clarke could hardly have started in a more positive fashion.

Of course, it will not always be this easy. More revealing will be the future occasions when Burns and Khawaja have to scrap against an attack on top of its game. Here, they faced a New Zealand attack lacking any sort of bite. Tim Southee's new-ball spell on the first day featured a few good balls that beat the edge, but that was about it. It did not help that Southee later sat out with a back injury.

New Zealand's lack of fight was not the only disappointing thing about the match. Australia's fielding was sub-standard, with catches dropped at slip, point and short leg. And although Australia had no trouble claiming 20 wickets, their work with the new ball was also inconsistent. New Zealand's opening batsmen were able to allow too many deliveries to sail by without using their bats.

"I think we improved this morning on our line and length," Smith said. "I thought our new-ball bowling in this game needs a bit of improvement. I thought we bowled a little bit too short. That's what we normally don't do out here, we usually get the ball up and make the batters drive and I think that is going to be important for us leading into Perth, which are probably going to be similar conditions."

Crowd numbers at the WACA will also be closely watched; a record crowd attended for Australia-New Zealand contests at the Gabba but the numbers became lacklustre as the game wore on. The 1373 who attended the final day - which began with New Zealand still having seven wickets in hand - was the size of a Sheffield Shield crowd, not a Test attendance.

"There wasn't many out there today, it's obviously disappointing as we would like everyone coming out and watching us play," Smith said. "Both sides play a very aggressive brand of cricket and a good brand to watch, so it was disappointing not to have the crowds out here and hopefully we get a bit more support at the WACA."