SMITH GETS TO GRIPS WITH FORM FOR SUMMER
STEVE Smith has lost and then found his hands more than once and that discovery has often been the fuel for run-scoring sprees that have elevated him above so many of his peers.
Now, after a 12-month process to have his hands and feet “in sync”, the Australian batting star produced an innings he labelled “close to perfection” in Adelaide on Thursday night in an ominous warning to the West Indies and South Africa before a fiveTest home summer.
Smith steered Australia to a cruisy win over world champion England, carving out a sublime unbeaten 80 after which he said he felt better at the crease than he had “for six years”.
In that period there have been some big hauls, including a monstrous 774 runs during the 2019 Ashes in England.
Smith even scored a one-day 100 against New Zealand in Cairns in September before playing only one game in the T20 World Cup.
But the 33-year-old declared Thursday’s innings was “much better” than that century against the Kiwis and said he could not be more excited about the rest of the summer, given how good he felt.
“It was probably the best I have felt at the crease in about six years, so happy with that,” Smith said on Friday.
“I’ve been spending the last couple of weeks, a lot of time in the nets just trying to get my hands and feet in sync together, that’s been the biggest challenge.
“I’ve been able to do one and not the other, and even in a game when you are under pressure you go back to default sometimes, but yesterday was the most stable I have felt in terms of both together.
“We are always looking for perfection and for me yesterday was probably as close to perfection as I’ll get.”
Smith went into detail on the work he had been doing since last summer to rediscover his happy place while batting, work that is starting to reap dividends.
“At the start of last summer I tried to get my hands back to where they were in like 2015,” he said.
“I feel like I’ve been getting my grip more round and round, and closing myself off, so last summer I felt like I had my grip right but it wasn’t aligning with my feet, I was still getting a bit too much front on.
“I feel like I am playing side on and have my feet and hands in sync.
“Yesterday was probably the first time I’ve actually had an extended time in the middle with that change.
“I feel like I had a lot of time. I felt in a nice place defensively and when I wanted to get my weight through the ball and play some shots.”
Smith said he felt so good he could “play the ball and it would go where I wanted it to”, having spent recent times wrestling with his own body to make things happen.
It has put his batting back in the perfect place to maul the Windies and Proteas.
“The way my hands were, I was still able to hit the ball in different positions but I had to manipulate my body and work a bit harder to get the ball there,” he said.
“Yesterday I felt in sync and I could play the ball and it would go where I wanted it to. That’s the biggest difference.
“It was only one innings, but just the way I felt, I felt in control.”