Waugh of all people knows the pressure associated with going back down a few levels and has warned Smith and Warner that Saturday won’t be a walk in the park. Welcome return: Steve Smith in his last stint playing for Sutherland. Credit:John Veage “I found it harder to score runs in grade cricket than Test cricket,” Waugh told Fairfax Media. “There is so much expectation. Every young kid is after you. You walk out to bat and think, 'if I don’t get 50 or 100 I’ve failed'. It’s a different type of pressure. “In some ways grade cricket is mentally more taxing because of the expectations. “It’d be an exciting chance for them. They never would have envisaged this happening. At the end of the day it might be the making of these two guys if they can come back and win the public over.

“I was just as passionate playing for Bankstown as I was for Australia. Maybe we’ve lost that in grade cricket over the last 10, 15, 20 years." Waugh said he would be there to watch Smith given his son Austin is also a member of Sutherland’s first-grade side. Pressed on whether a season of club cricket would be sufficient preparation for a return to Test cricket at next year’s Ashes series, Waugh said time would tell. “It’s a good question because it’s never been done before,” Waugh said. “Grade cricket is good and it’s strong but it’s not Shield cricket. We can only answer that in 12 months' time. I don’t think [Smith] is going to lose his skill or form in 12 months. It’s just whether he’s match-hardened. I think he can train himself to do that. It is possible.” Waugh expects Smith and Warner to dominate the competition but fired a shot at the left-hander's poor run of form in South Africa by suggesting he needed to work on his game.

Warner scored 217 runs at an average of 36 from three Tests in South Africa and was dismissed by speedster Kagiso Rabada on three occasions. “Dave has also got the challenge of correcting his technique because Rabada certainly put a big hole in that in the last series,” Waugh said. “Every other team will be watching how he got out in that series and they will be honing in on that ball coming back in from outside off stump. “He’s got to work on his technique a bit in the off-season, so maybe he can look at it as a positive to tighten up his game.” Back in grade: Steve Smith bats in the nets at Sutherland training on Tuesday. Credit:Chris Lane Waugh said he backed Cricket Australia’s decision to ban Smith, Warner and Cameron Bancroft even in light of discussion that the suspensions should be reduced.