Nasser Hussain has claimed that England will have an excellent shout of limiting Steve Smith's run-scoring in the Ashes by swinging the ball at him early in his innings.

The 26-year-old has been in outstanding form in Test cricket over the past year and has recently moved up the order into the number three spot where he had success against the West Indies.

However, Hussian believes that the England bowlers can expose his weaknesses with the swinging Duke ball to remove him early in his innings to limit his impact in the series.

He told the Daily Mail: "Steve Smith's success or otherwise at number three is going to play a massive part in the Ashes. In the last 18 months, he's been Bradmanesque, but a lot of his runs have come at number three, where he looked very comfortable.

"I know he batted at number three in the West Indies recently, and made 199 in one innings. But it's one thing to come in against the new ball in the Caribbean, and another to do it against the swinging Dukes ball in England.

"If Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad can expose him early, England will be in with a shout."

The first Test begins on Wednesday at Sophia Gardens.