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Smith reveals peculiar habits, needs, urges

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THE only thing common about Steve Smith is his surname. Uncommon batting ability. Uncommon fidgeting. Uncommon superstiti­ons. Even uncommon eating.

The Australian captain says being forced to eat a humble banana helped him post his highest Test score against England in the third Test in Perth.

Smith’s epic innings ended on 239 when dismissed yesterday. Before play, he revealed his physical struggles to bat through Saturday’s entire day.

“I was actually really tired at tea yesterday and was struggling a little bit,” Smith told ABC radio.

“(I) went in and had to have some sugar and a banana and something to eat. I don’t like to eat too much when I bat.”

The banana came at the behest of Australia’s physical performanc­e coach Aaron Kellett.

“(He) basically forced it down my throat and said ‘You need something to eat’,” said Smith, who once refused to eat duck the night before a match in fear of a bad omen.

His duck aversion changed when he unwittingl­y ate some before the 2015 Lord’s Test — and then he made his other Test double-century.

Another of Smith’s idiosyncra­sies surfaced during his Perth masterclas­s. At the drink’s break in the last session, support staff brought a chair onto the WACA so Smith could sit down — not just to rest, but redress.

Smith has a peculiarit­y where he is distracted by the sight of his shoelaces, so he gets them taped to his socks.

As he sat on the chair, he had the laces re-taped to avoid seeing them.

“I have always had an issue with looking at my shoelaces when I’m batting,” Smith said earlier this year. He sad the sight of laces “would sort of do my head in a bit”.

“So I ended up getting a physio to tape my shoelaces to my socks,” he said.

The first time he did it, he made a century in the Indian Premier League so has since stuck with the sticky habit.

“I just like just seeing my shoes and everything to look sort of clean ... just no shoelaces,” he said.

Another of Smith’s oddities is batting gloves, which he changes every 20 to 30 minutes during an innings.

Smith has up to 15 pairs of gloves in his kit. And he numbers each pair, because he refuses to wear gloves that were not manufactur­ed as a set.

 ??  ?? Conner O'Leary at the Pipe Masters. Picture: AAP/WSL
Conner O'Leary at the Pipe Masters. Picture: AAP/WSL

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