Smith tries out neck guard on low-key return
Steve Smith confronted his Stemguard phobia during a lowkey return from concussion in Derby, where his net session with David Warner attracted almost as much interest as his brief stint in the middle during the tour game.
Smith’s much-anticipated knock against Derbyshire proved anticlimactic, spanning 47 minutes in which he went through the motions while scoring 23. Bad habits, rather than horrifying bouncers, loomed as the biggest threat while tuning up for a fourth-test comeback.
With respect to 23-year-old legspinner Matt Critchley and 18-yearold off-spinner Hamidullah Qadri, yesterday’s contest was the antithesis of what Smith will face at Old Trafford next week.
The right-hander slapped two boundaries then trudged off, having swung wildly at a Critchley tempter floated outside off, but picked out Hamidullah in the deep.
The most notable thing about yesterday’s innings was the clip-on attachment at the back of Smith’s helmet. The former captain is no fan of Stemguards, designed in the aftermath of Phillip Hughes’s death in 2014, and was not wearing one when struck on his exposed neck by a Jofra Archer bouncer at Lord’s.
Smith, having likened batting with a neck protector to being “stuck in an MRI scan machine”, knows they are likely to become mandatory and wants to become used to the claustrophobic sensation.
Facing Critchley, whose firstclass bowling average of 51.86 suggests he should not be called into England’s Test squad despite the obvious joke after Smith’s lowest score since this Ashes started, is a different proposition from Archer.
‘I think if Smudger got 20 or 220, he’d still want to go to the nets and have a hit’
So the batsman regarded as Australia’s best since Don Bradman emerged from the dressing room almost immediately upon returning, having gifted Critchley a prized scalp to boast about for the rest of his life. Still in whites and with kit bag slung over his shoulders, Smith marched to the nets.
Warner, who has been rested from the match, helped to satisfy Smith’s insatiable appetite for batting. Armed with the “wanger” dogball thrower that coaches use to try to replicate the pace and bounce of fast bowlers, Warner tested his team-mate out as some in the crowd abandoned their interest in the match to watch throwdowns in the nets instead.
“I think if Smudger got 20 or 220, he’d still want to go to the nets and have a hit. That’s just him and that’s why he is the best in the world,” Mitchell Marsh said, having top-scored with 74 in Australia’s total of 338 for five declared.
Smith’s knock, coming 13 days after he was felled by Archer, started as word reached Australia’s dressing room of James Anderson’s series-ending setback.
“He will be shattered, but England have shown they’ve got great depth in their bowling attack,” Marsh said. “You feel sorry for him.”