After missing the first Test because of a finger injury he suffered during the World Test Championship (WTC) final against South Africa, Steve Smith is expected to return in the second Test match against the West Indies. Because he didn’t want an edge to fall short, the talismanic batter was fielding at slips, which is closer to the batter than the conventional position. But this strategy had two drawbacks: Smith suffered a painful complex dislocation of his finger and had very little time to respond to a thick edge in the second innings.
Steve Smith chose to keep his right little finger in a splint while it healed rather than have surgery. Smith will not be fielding at slips in the second Test, per an ESPNcricinfo report. However, given how brittle their top order has been lately, his batting ability will undoubtedly provide Australia with much-needed relief.
Daren Sammy, the head coach of the West Indies, believes that Australia is already a formidable team without Smith and that the arrival of the former captain will strengthen the team’s batting lineup even more.
“Steve Smith is both a good man and a good footballer. Australia’s structure has kept them strong, even without him. They continue to produce men. However, we’ve shown that when we apply pressure as a bowling unit, we can win by taking 20 wickets in the Test. Sammy lamented the missed catches in the first Test match and stated, “If Steve Smith comes in, he poses a different challenge to us.” SportStar cited Sammy as stating this.
Sammy talked about how the fielding failed them in the first Test, as they lost seven catches, which hurt their chances, particularly against the world’s top-ranked Test side.
The biggest factor, in my opinion, is that we put ourselves in a bad position. You can’t expect to compete if you miss seven receptions against the best team in the world. Although we bear a great deal of responsibility for the loss, there were some encouraging aspects as well. We were (going) head-to-head with the top team for the first two days,” he continued.
Steve Smith appears to be quite self-assured and eager to return: Alex Carey
Australian wicketkeeper Alex Carey, meanwhile, stated that they will greatly benefit from Smith’s return to the starting lineup. Steve Smith is eager to return to the game’s longest format and is quite confident, according to the former.
He is an excellent class player. You could expect to be quite satisfied with the lineup whenever 10,000 runs are added. Regarding Smith, Australia’s wicketkeeper Alex Carey stated, “We’ll wait and see.”
It’s clear that he’s enjoying himself here. He appears to be quite self-assured and eager to rejoin. Additionally, he said, “I think they’re doing a pretty good job as well, but I guess a little bit more experience is good for the group because it’s been tough at the top of the order.”
On Thursday, July 3, the National Cricket Stadium in St George’s, Grenada, will host the eagerly anticipated second Test. In Bridgetown, Barbados, West Indies lost the first Test match by 159 runs.
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