England may have picked wrong bowlers - Smith

Steve Smith believes England may have picked the wrong bowlers for the Ashes, suggesting Australian wickets will be better suited to seam and swing than an all-out pace attack.

The tourists are relying on extreme pace, led by Jofra Archer and Mark Wood, for the five-Test series, with Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Matthew Potts and Josh Tongue also in the squad.

Almost all of them can deliver spells in excess of 90mph but none are seen as traditional seamers.

Smith, who will captain Australia in the first Test in Perth next week with Pat Cummins injured, said the wickets could better suit bowlers like James Anderson and Stuart Broad.

Smith's assessment came after playing Sheffield Shield matches at the Gabba in Brisbane and Sydney Cricket Ground, where he was in fine touch with the bat

"It's different on the wickets now," Smith said.

"I mean, those sort of nibblers (seamers) can be quite tricky. So they might have got things the wrong way around, if that makes sense, in terms of the pace, from previous years.

"Obviously, they've got those guys at their disposal now. They probably weren't fit and ready, or old enough, maybe, a few years back.

"Sometimes the slower guys are almost harder to play on those wickets where you have to make the pace, but yeah, we'll wait and see, won't we?"