Smith back in blaze of glory

RICKY Ponting was pacing down the hotel hallway when he heard that unmistakeable “tap, tap, tap” sound coming from Steve Smith’s room.

“Were you batting at seven o’clock this morning?” Ponting asked the workaholic batsman.

“Yeah, I was actually,” Smith replied. “I always have a bat in my room.”

Ponting has previously pointed out Smith’s batting obsession borders on unhealthy.

“He’s a very hard worker, probably to his detriment sometimes,” Ponting said.

“He almost does a bit too much batting. Sometimes we have to slow him down.”

Coach Justin Langer recently revealed that even when the willow went away, Smith’s mind refused to let go.

“He’s just shadow batting the whole time,” Langer said.

“He’s shadow batting on the sand (in Gallipoli), he’s shadow batting in the shower – I’m not joking.”

Smith laughed off Langer and blocked out Ponting.

“I don’t know how (Langer’s) spying on me in the shower,” Smith said.

“(But) you’ve got to trust people’s preparation. I’ve been around quite a while now and I’ve played a lot of cricket.

“I’m reasonably experienced and I’ve learned a bit over the last couple of years to sometimes just take the foot off the pedal. Some of the more inexperienced guys might need a bit more guidance, but guys that have played a lot of cricket know their preparation.”

It is clearly working. Smith has batted for Australia 10 times since his ball-tampering ban expired and is averaging 80 runs.

While Smith and David Warner are the two cricketers Australia wants to hear from, they’ve been heard from the least.

But after Smith punished Sri Lanka with 73 (off 59 balls), his third half-century in 10 days at the ICC World Cup in England, a rare media opportunity followed.

Smith, unsurprisingly, played a straight bat.

How is his relationship with ball-tampering architect Warner?

“We’re getting on well,” he said.

“Working hard together and doing what we can for the team, so everything’s good.”

What about enemy Virat Kohli’s request for Indian fans to replace jeers with cheers?

“It doesn’t really bother me what the crowd do,” Smith said.

“I’m just sort of blocking it all out, but it was a lovely gesture from Virat.”

Does Smith want to captain Australia again?

“I’m honestly not thinking about it,” he said.

“It’s just about playing well in this World Cup.”