England has no answer to Smith
ENGLAND’S bowlers may want to find a phone number for Umesh Yadav, and quickly.
Yadav, the fiery Indian quick, was the last man to dismiss Australian captain Steve Smith at the MCG in a Test. That was three years ago. As imperious as Smith has been through this Ashes series, his Melbourne record is reaching ridiculous levels.
He has scored 434 runs without being dismissed at the MCG since Yadav had him caught down the leg side for 14 on day four of the Test against India in 2014. That was December 29.
Since then – 1093 days – Smith has proved invincible at the iconic ground. He’s scored hundreds in his past three MCG Tests, big hundreds too, no doubt with eyes on a fourth as Australia presses for a big first-innings total.
His average at the ground is already 140 and, while plenty want to compare him to Sir Donald Bradman, he has already bested the Don.
Bradman averaged 128.5 at the MCG in 11 innings.
Teammate David Warner was impressed by Smith’s talent and resilience. “He’s just a freak. I don’t know how he does what he does,” he said.
Smith made an unbeaten 65 yesterday batting under duress, after copping a ball on his hand during a net session last Sunday. He wasn’t batting when a ball ricocheted off a rail in the nets and hit a “hot spot”.
It was a shot from teammate Cameron Bancroft, who couldn’t apologise enough to his skipper.
“I’ll be able to deal with it and just get on with it. Maybe I just have to use a bit more of my top hand through this game, be a bit wristy,” Smith said before the game. That Smith could decide to change his technique, midway through a Test series to compensate for an injury, staggered former Test batsman Mike Hussey.
“To hear him say he may have to change his technique a little bit and use more of his top hand, he must be in some serious form,” Hussey told Fox Sports. “To think about using more of his top hand is incredible. He’s obviously seeing the ball pretty well.”
He is. Pick a big ball; beach, basket, volley, that’s what Smith sees when the Kookaburra comes at him, especially at the MCG.
The country code for India is +91. Get dialling, England.
HE’S JUST A FREAK. I DON’T KNOW HOW HE DOES WHAT HE DOES DAVID WARNER