Smith set for bouncers
Steve Smith has declared he is ready to combat any short-ball barrage from the West Indies as he prepares to return to the scene of Neil Wagner’s first sustained attack.
Tomorrow’s test at Optus Stadium will mark the first in Perth since 2019, owing to two summers of border closures through Covid19. On Smith’s last visit, New Zealand left-armer Wagner peppered him with relentless spells of bouncers, bowling to a legside field that brought the Australian’s batting returns back to mere mortal levels.
With a pacy attack, there is every chance the West Indies could do the same through the likes of Kemar Roach, Alzarri Joseph and Jayden Seales. But for two reasons, Smith is adamant it won’t be as effective.
First, he believes technical changes to make his batting more side-on have opened up the chance for him to pull in front of square, rather than being limited to helping the ball on its way.
That should make it harder for bowlers to set fields to have the righthander caught pulling, as opposed to when New Zealand had two men behind square and another at forward square leg.
The right-hander also claims he has more options to evade the short ball now, rather than it following him when he was moving back and across in his crease.