'We do things in real time' - Smith won't look back at no-spin selection slip

Steven Smith conceded that spin had become a more prominent threat in the SCG Test than he had envisaged, a view that was no doubt partly informed by first-hand experience, on a pitch he said was as good as he had encountered at his home ground.

On the final day, Smith was castled by a ripping offbreak by Will Jacks which spun back through the gate to take middle and leg. Jacks, a part-time spinner who has largely struggled to land two balls in the same spot, nearly had a second a short while later when Usman Khawaja edged fine of Ben Stokes at slip.

Those moments came less than 24 hours after Beau Webster, who is happy to admit he no longer really practices his offspin, had turned the game firmly in Australia's favour when he spun one back sharply to trap Harry Brook lbw.

Even though Shoaib Bashir was in England's 12-man squad for this Test, it had long since been felt that he would not be selected on this tour. However, Australia's decision not to include Todd Murphy, who had been called up after Nathan Lyon's hamstring injury in Adelaide, was met with collective surprise. At the toss, Smith said pitches were forcing Australia into a corner.

In the aftermath of a five-wicket win, which was secured with reasonable comfort in the end, Smith saw the result as vindication for the balance of Australia's side, but conceded it would likely have been a different conversation had they not been successful.

"It is now," Smith said when asked if the selection was justified. "We're standing here winning, right? Had we not, there's maybe a bit to answer for there, potentially. You've got to weigh up how you think the game's going to pan out. We thought the cracks were going to open up quicker than they did and the rough wasn't going to be as prevalent as it was.

"Our batting was obviously really deep with [Mitchell Starc] coming in at No. 10. I think that in this game, that length of the batting order with Beau coming in at nine after a night watchman and getting 70, getting us to that total in the first innings was crucial. There's different points in the game you can look at.

"In terms of the wicket, I think it's one of the best I've seen in my 15 years playing here. I think it offered a bit for everyone. The new ball worked a bit. If you batted well and applied yourself, you could score runs. Then the rough came into play at the backend and there were some cracks there as well."

Australia's lack of a frontline spinner in this game was the most contentious call of a series where the home side showed impressive adaptability, making changes every Test, and having to manage the absence of key bowlers. Pat Cummins played just once, Lyon twice and Josh Hazlewood not at all. It meant that Michael Neser ended up featuring in three of the Tests, including his first with the red ball, and formed a compelling partnership with Alex Carey up to the stumps.

Perhaps most significantly, in terms of how the series played out, there was Usman Khawaja's back injury in Perth which led to the elevation of Travis Head to open: he walked away from the series with 629 runs including three centuries.

"I think it just shows our depth," Smith said. "Everyone that came in did a tremendous job. Beau coming in this game getting 70 not out and then taking three crucial wickets, bowling offspin into the rough. Guys just did their jobs when we needed them to.

"I think our fielding was incredible as well. As an Australian team, you pride yourself on your fielding. It's a huge attitude thing. I thought the way we caught throughout the summer was better than England. That was a huge difference in the end result as well."

Smith himself played a vital role, captaining four out of the five Tests in place of Cummins, and Player of the Series Mitchell Starc said it felt seamless. "Yeah, okay, Pat wasn't there, but we have someone who's captained the team so much in the past. [Smith] has a great cricket brain," he said. "It was business as usual. Steve captained phenomenally well. He was ahead of the game; he was ahead of England for a lot of it.

"Then in terms of whether it be the different batters, Trav opening, different bowling set-ups, we knew as a group that we had the guys that could fill different roles and be adaptable in different situations."

Ben Stokes admitted England had been stymied by oppositions coming up with plans to combat them in recent years and hadn't been able to find their own answers. "That's the plan kind of going in," Smith said. "We just try and play what's in front of us and do what we need to do at that time.

"That's been a real strength of this group, we do things in real time. We don't wait until afterwards and say, 'you know, we should have done this, we should have done that, we could have done this'. We try and do it right there. We don't get it right every time, but I think we're getting it right more often than not."

However, Australia's success this season has not stopped the selection panel coming under fire. During the Sydney Test, former Australia pace bowler Stuart Clark, who is a New South Wales board member and selector, was highly critical of George Bailey and chief of cricket James Allsopp while commentating on ABC radio. That led to ABC being refused a player interview after the third day and CA chief executive Todd Greenberg speaking directly on the criticism from Clark.

Smith said he was unaware of the situation around the ABC, but on Bailey's role, he was unequivocal. "In terms of George, he's done a wonderful job for a long time," Smith said. "Since he's been in charge, we've made a couple of [World] Test Championship finals and we've played really good cricket. We've won this series 4-1. So, what more is there to say?"