Steve Smith provided a favourable update on his injuries, though, indicating that surgery is not necessary. His right little finger, however, has suffered a complex dislocation. The finger was put in a splint after the wound was cleansed and stitched. Smith will spend the next eight weeks in a splint. Nevertheless, based on his comfort level and functionality, he might resume batting sooner.
In addition to losing by five wickets in the World Test Championship (WTC) final and not successfully defending the coveted title, Australia suffered yet another blow on Friday, June 13 when their lucky batsman, Steve Smith, injured his finger while fielding on Day 3 at the legendary Lord’s Cricket Ground.
“I will be in a splint for eight weeks now and I may be able to play with it in a couple of weeks,” Steve Smith said following Australia’s defeat by South Africa by five wickets at Lord’s.
“It will depend on my functionality and what I am able to do, so it was probably the best result I could have hoped for,” he stated.
Smith was fielding at slips when he sustained the injury. He stood a few paces forward of the standard slide position and wore a helmet. The Sydney native claimed that he positioned closer to the batter to improve his chances of making a catch because many edges were not carrying to the slip fielders at the Home of Cricket. When he dropped a catch off Mitchell Starc’s bowling and hurt himself, he acknowledged that visibility and angle were crucial factors. After receiving a respite, Temba Bavuma went on to form a partnership with Aiden Markram that ended up winning the match by 147 runs.
“As we witnessed during the game, many nicks missed first and second slips while I was standing fairly close with my helmet on. The goal was to stand fairly near, but Mitchell Starc’s bowling angle caused me to lose sight of it. It kind of went inside Bavuma’s hip, and I didn’t notice it until it was very late.
It also kind of dipped on me a little bit late,” Steve Smith recounted.
“It was tricky, it didn’t go in my hand very well and fortunately there is no break there and it just split the skin and dislocated it which made me feel pretty ill at that stage,” he said.
Steve Smith talked about his love/hate relationship with Lord’s, bringing up his head injury sustained in the 2019 Ashes match against Jofra Archer. He did, however, claim that he had enjoyed performing at the legendary location.
“I currently feel both love and detest for this place. This place has given me both pleasant and unpleasant memories. I was struck in the head by Jofra (Archer) in 2019, and yesterday I also had my finger severed. However, I’ve had a great time playing cricket here, and it was another excellent match,” Steve Smith remarked.
As they get ready for their Test trip in the Caribbean, Australia will keep a careful eye on Steve Smith fitness. For the time being, his ability to participate will rely on how quickly his right hand can operate again.
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