LIFE WITHOUT SMITH IS REAL HEADACHE FOR AUSSIES
At 2.20pm yesterday, Australia’s second wicket fell. Usually, this would be a source of trepidation for Englishmen, maybe even a moment of regret.
that’s the problem with Ashes cricket this summer. You can’t bowl the Australia team out without taking that second wicket. And you can’t take that second wicket without bringing Steve Smith to the crease.
His style frustrates and infuriates, his steady accumulation ruins the rhythm of even the most cocksure bowler. And, at Lord’s, just when you think you’re rid of him, he comes back. But not yesterday. Not this time.
Smith is still recovering from a concussive blow from Jofra Archer and in his absence Australia are bereft. As Usman Khawaja trooped back to the pavilion, there was no Smith to ride quirkily to Australia’s rescue, to stride across the outfield and fidget his way to the latest mighty accumulation.
No Smith to dig in through a collapse, either, no Smith with his exaggerated leaves and funky inexplicable movement that defies every coaching manual, yet brings an incongruous calm to the pressure cooker middle. Marnus Labuschagne was his replacement and he did very well. But he’s not Smith. Australia knew that and didn’t like it one bit.
Joe Root, England’s captain, knew it too, which is why he did not politely pretend this was any old player, and any old space on the team sheet. He didn’t offer the platitudes that Australia would be the same no matter who was out there because it’s patently untrue.
‘they will be huge shoes to fill,’ he said. ‘You get these swings within a big series like this every now and again, and when you get your opportunity you’ve got to jump on it.’
And to this end, he was as good as his word. Root won the toss and stuck Australia in. Would he have been that bold if Smith could march in and take the day away from England? Unlikely.
When Australia had inserted England at Lord’s it was an indictment of their performance at Edgbaston. Yesterday’s decision was a combination of poor weather and a missing talismanic batsman. Root had seen weakness on day five at Lord’s. Now, if this Ashes series does turn at Headingley, it will not just be about what England have gained in the pace bowling of Archer — who took a magnificent six for 45, confirming his status as the superstar of the sporting summer — but what Australia have lost, too.
Smith will be back for the fourth test at Old trafford — but in this brief spell of respite England have made hay. Confident enough to put Australia in — a plan that appeared to have backfired, before the tumble of wickets late in the day proved the decision correct.
Australia are greatly reduced tactically, technically but most of all mentally by Smith’s withdrawal. It is not just the weight of runs that he delivers — although obviously that matters — but the swagger his presence brings. Australia have an unearned, unmerited assurance when he is around. It’s like having the biggest boy in the playground as your best mate, or being the pipsqueak member of the hardest gang.
Australia’s top order are peering out from behind Smith’s mighty shoulders, sneering and snarling.
Australia were 25 for two, later lost three wickets for three runs, and ended the day 179 all out. Archer was superb. Yet we will never know what difference Smith might have made in similar circumstances, given he turned 122 for eight into 284 all out at Edgbaston. England didn’t have Archer in that test, of course.
Yet, the fact travis Head and Matthew Wade went for ducks here after David Warner had fallen is a nod to Smith’s influence. Both made significant scores in partnership with Smith in the first two tests, but were swiftly dispatched. true, Head got the ball of the day from Stuart Broad, while Wade was unfortunate to play on, yet the implosion in Australia’s middle order is the type of crisis Smith steers his country through.
He just needs a companion at the crease to do his damage. In the first innings of the first test at Edgbaston, he more than doubled Australia’s total in the company of the lowest-order batsmen, Peter Siddle and Nathan Lyon.
And while Labuschagne battled gamely to play Smith’s role, it did not carry the same threat. England knew they were facing Smith Lite, and when Labuschagne was dismissed by a straight, high full toss that he completely missed, it merely confirmed it.
Archer’s bowling influences the mood in the crowd, and certainly impacted magnificently on this game, but it is Smith’s becalming that has messed with minds in the visitors’ team room. Labuschagne was excellent at Lord’s, too, and brave, considering the blow he took from Archer. Yet he isn’t the same.
He digs in like Smith but doesn’t score like him. Even as he toiled gamely and impressively, Australia remained vulnerable. Lionel Messi could not stop Barcelona losing at Liverpool; Cristiano Ronaldo could not find a way through for Juventus against Ajax.
Just having Smith in the team does not mean Australia will always win; no more than finding Archer guarantees 20 wickets for England.
But it helps. Just as tossing the ball to Archer has quickly become Root’s default tactic when the attack begins to stagnate, so Smith’s presence covers myriad flaws in Australia’s top order.
It is hard to remember when Warner last looked as out-of-sorts at the crease as he has on this tour, and it is to his great credit that he scrapped through to get 61 when he could barely lay bat on ball in the early overs.
Perhaps with Smith at the crease the pair could have amassed a match-changing total.
Instead, having seen Australia to a highly creditable 136 for two, Warner will have watched in anguish as his hard work was undermined.
Australia could not last without their big bully batsman. England must make the most of this opportunity. It isn’t likely to come around again. Not this summer.