Cricket-English grab at rising Australian talent Smith rebuffed

LONDON, June 27 (Reuters) - 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. (Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Patrick Johnston)