English grab at rising Australian talent Steve Smith rebuffed

London: Australia batsman Steven Smith revealed English county side Surrey once tried to push him into the country`s national set-up by virtue of his mother`s British heritage.

Though born in Sydney, Smith played club cricket in Kent, his mother`s home county, and also for the county side`s second XI before being offered his first professional contract as a teenager with Surrey.

Throwing his lot in with England would have been a formality due to his blood-line, but the 26-year-old said he had no regrets about opting for Australia where he is now the world`s top-ranked batsman in tests.

"I played a little bit of club cricket at Sevenoaks Vine (in Kent). It was really enjoyable and I think it helped my game in the long run as well," Smith told reporters.

"I ended up playing a little bit of cricket at Surrey and I think they may have been trying to get me along (to the England camp) but I think I made a wise decision to play back home."

Smith made the comments after scoring 111 against Kent in an Ashes tour warm-up in Canterbury on Friday, an ominous warning for England`s bowlers ahead of the first Ashes test in Cardiff on July 8.

The baby-faced New South Welshman has scored five centuries from his past six tests in a Bradman-esque run of form.

Smith struck his maiden test century in the fifth and final test of Australia`s 2013 tour of England and has not looked back since.

Despite that, former England spinner Graeme Swann raised eyebrows a week ago by criticising the player`s technique and saying his "weaknesses" would emerge on English pitches.

Smith laughed off the criticism, which sparked a minor uproar in Australia.

"That doesn`t really bother me. It`s obviously pre-Ashes," he said. "A little bit of banter and that kind of thing getting thrown around so I`m happy for him to say whatever he likes.

"Hopefully I can just continue to let my bat to do the talking.

"I think you can get that pre-Ashes, getting into guys` heads. It`s certainly happened before and I`m sure it`ll happen again.

"For me, it`s just about me going over there and playing the game that I`ve been playing for the last 12-18 months and hopefully continue to score some runs."

Australia are bidding to retain the Ashes after whitewashing England 5-0 at home in 2013/14.