The Ashes 2021/22: Steve Smith opens up on maturity, new technique and plans for England
Criticism has followed Steve Smith around the globe - but the Australian vice-captain says it doesn’t get to him anymore. He opens up about his new-found maturity.
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Steve Smith says he has grown a thicker skin to cope with the criticism shadowing his every move as he prepares to become the most hands-on vice-captain Test cricket has ever seen.
The amateur guitarist produced a superhuman performance in the last Ashes series and Smith credited his maturity in recent years to striking a better balance between cricket and his growing outside interests.
Thunderous boos greeted Smith at every England venue when he returned to international cricket in 2019 but the 32-year-old claimed he was no longer affected by public opinions.
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“I certainly think I’ve grown as a human being over the last four or five years,” Smith said on Sunday.
“People are entitled to their opinions. Negative stuff doesn’t really get to me probably like it used to.
“I certainly feel like I’ve grown as a human being and as a leader over the last four or five years and I feel like I’m in a nice place.
“I’ve got a lot more interests outside of cricket now. I certainly feel as though I’m more well-rounded.”
Cricket Australia’s board has signed off on Smith captaining Australia again in the event new skipper Pat Cummins misses a Test match.
But Smith confirmed there would be times this Ashes series where he was in charge because Cummins would need to rest at fine leg for the odd over here and there.
“My job has been pretty clearly stated to me,” Smith said.
“Out on the field there might be times where Pat just says, ‘Mate, I need you to do some stuff at the moment if I’m bowling or I’ve had a big spell’.
“You might see a bit more movement of fielders and stuff than a traditional vice-captain will potentially have.
“And that’s the way I can support Pat on the field when he needs that. I’m here whenever he needs me.”
Smith bordered on invincible in the 2019 Ashes, peeling off three commanding centuries in Australia’s two Test victories that ensured the urn was retained.
It left England’s bowlers with a miserable set of figures against Smith; Stuart Broad 2-193, Jack Leach 1-101, Ben Stokes 0-123 and Craig Overton 0-82.
Smith also averages 63 against the great Jimmy Anderson, who sat out that series with a calf injury.
“The last couple of years I’ve obviously had a bit of success against them,” Smith said.
“Sometimes you can get in rhythms against certain bowlers and feel as though you’re on top of them.”
Ollie Robinson burst on to the scene in England’s home summer against India this year and the bouncy quick will present a new challenge for Smith.
“He bowled really well (against India) and hit a nice line and length that’ll suit the Gabba pretty well,” Smith said.
“He seems like he’s always at you (and) testing your defence out.”
Smith gets a grip just in time to break Poms...again
- Ben Horne
Steve Smith has loosened his grip as part of a bold plan to tighten his stranglehold on England this summer.
History will never forget Smith’s extraordinary 2019 Ashes series, where he returned from his year of cricketing exile to smash three hundreds and average over 110 in one of the most dominant performances the game has seen.
Every batter would love to have a dry spell like Steve Smith, but by his Bradman-like standards, opposition teams since that Ashes masterclass have put the clamps on his scoring.
Pakistan, New Zealand and India restricted him to just one Test century at an average of 40 from nine matches, and England will have square eyes from all the video they’ve studied trying to copy the so called ‘Smith blueprint.’
Although most of the England top order dream of averaging 40 in Test cricket, keeping Smith to that mark when he averages 61 for his career would be a decisive win for Joe Root’s men in the context of this Ashes.
However, England beware: Smith has spent his 2021 lockdown in the lab, and believes he has finally unlocked the secret to letting the river of runs flow once more.
“Yeah, I’ve found my grip back to how I used to hold it back in 2014-15. It’s a little more open, not quite as closed as I’ve had it for a few years,” Smith told News Corp.
“So it’s giving me I think a lot more scoring options through the off-side and I feel as though it’s in a good place.”
As a reminder, Smith scored a century in all four Tests of the 2014-15 series against India in a summer he ranks alongside his 2017-18 and 2019 Ashes as the best campaigns of his career.
He has no idea why he changed his grip in the first place – not that it appeared to affect his effectiveness … not at least until more recent times.
But after a couple of frustrating summers best defined by New Zealand’s Neil Wagner peppering him with rib-high bouncers and suffocating his run-scoring – Smith has decided to go back to the future.
If the following description from Smith is a little on the technical side, just take comfort in the fact he feels back in the zone to do what he does best and punish England on the scoreboard.
“(The grip change) doesn’t affect my legside play at all. It helps me with short stuff and playing the pull shot,” said Smith, who is back as Australia vice-captain following the Cape Town scandal.
“I’ve got more of my bottom hand on the bat as opposed to a couple of my fingers coming off – which enables me to be in more control.
“It took a little while to get that change. It felt quite foreign for a while.
“I feel like it’s in a really good place and I’m excited to finally get out there and face some real bowling in Test cricket.”
Smith recognises a key difference in what made him great in 2014-15 as opposed to his success in 2017-18 and 2019, and it relates to skill versus mind control.
The batting genius of our time wants to discover the nexus between the two powers and find a new level of Nirvana at the crease.
“When I think about the 14-15 series against India, that was as good as I’ve hit the ball, but my mind wasn’t in as good a place as it was in 17-18 and 19, when I didn’t think I was actually hitting the ball quite as well – but my decision-making and my concentration levels were better,” said Smith.
“If I can put the two together that’d be outstanding. I’d love that.”
Batting grip and mental focus aside, there is another possible factor in Smith’s steadier rather than spectacular form over the past two years.
His name is Marnus Labuschagne.
By Smith’s own admission one of the hallmarks of his Bradman-like purple patch in Test cricket between late 2013-2019 was the fact so many of his finest knocks came with his back to the wall and Australia in trouble.
But the meteoric rise of Labuschagne since he replaced Smith as a concussion sub at Lord’s on the last Ashes has provided Australia with a third pillar of strength at the top of the order alongside Smith and David Warner.
Smith concedes he’s always been at his best when early wickets have fallen and the heat is on, and his big Ashes challenge this summer might be to summons that boxer’s mindset within even when Labuschagne has provided a cushion above him at No.3.
“There’s been a pretty big focus on how teams are going to try and keep me quiet. Sometimes when that’s the case it’s good for the other batters,” said Smith.
“Over the last couple of home summers the beauty is some of the other batters have really stood up and I haven’t had to score heaps of runs.
“I bat my best when I’m under pressure and I’ve got that extra responsibility and I feel as though I need to be the one to stand up.
“I think that’s the way I’ve gone about it for a while.
“Marnus has played exceptionally well the last couple of years and when you’ve got a lot of people scoring runs consistently, your team is in a pretty good place. I think we’ve got a strong batting line-up for this summer.”
Sadly, the tragedies of the Covid-19 pandemic are all too real, but in a selfish cricketing sense it has robbed the world of another two years of Steve Smith in his prime.
On top of his one-year exile from Test cricket following the ball tampering scandal, that’s virtually three winters and one summer at the peak of his batting powers where Smith has been largely relegated to spectator status.
England have played 11 Test matches in the 10 and a half months since Smith last played a Test, and if he were wearing the Three Lions cap rather than a baggy green, the 32-year-old may already be up to 100 matches.
But Smith is preferring to look ahead to a schedule which includes massive overseas tours of Pakistan and Sri Lanka next year and India in 2023, and relishing his first opportunity for true Test cricketing continuity since his Cricket Australia imposed suspension.
“It gets pretty busy now for us,” said Smith.
“It’s been a bit of a shame. I would love to be playing more red ball cricket but obviously we got postponed with the South African tour which wasn’t ideal.
“Test cricket is the ultimate challenge for any player. I’m pretty keen to get into it and get moving again.”
At the Twenty20 World Cup just gone, Smith played two innings of substance and in three matches, including the final, wasn’t even required to put the gloves on.
But Smith didn’t need the runs to prove plenty and grow in stature as a player.
Nothing sums it up better than the fact Shane Warne was a strong critic of Smith’s inclusion in Australia’s best T20 batting line-up, only to change his mind midway through the tournament as the green and gold machine started to click into gear.
Smith was ultimately a luxury Australia didn’t need to call upon as David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Marcus Stoinis and Matthew Wade came to the fore.
But the mere knowledge of Smith’s presence as a human life raft if required, gave confidence to those around him to play their roles with full freedom and no fear of failure.
Smith is now part of the rare club of Australian players also featuring Warner, Aaron Finch, Glenn Maxwell, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc to have completed the ODI and T20 World Cup double.
“Especially given the Twenty20 trophy had eluded us for so long,” said Smith.
“I was obviously part of the 2010 World Cup, in a different role bowling a few leggies, where we just missed out in the final against England.
“To get another opportunity and to get over the line this time was very satisfying.
“My role was to steady the ship (if needed) and otherwise let the other ‘cowboys’ as we call them keep going. I was pretty clear what my role was and that was the beauty of how we succeeded.
“We all knew our roles and how we wanted to go about it.”
For the Ashes, Smith’s role is even clearer. Bat and bat and bat.
How Tugga helped shape Cummins the captain
The bottomless wisdom of Stephen Waugh is sought too infrequently in Australian cricket, so Pat Cummins knew he couldn’t waste the chance.
On the 2019 Ashes tour, Waugh’s appearance as a mentor in the Australian dressing room was a gift from the cricketing God’s for Pat Cummins – a captain in waiting, even if he didn’t know it at the time.
During idle moments at the ground or on the team bus, Cummins would talk at length with his boyhood idol about the art of captaincy and how Waugh’s philosophies as a leader might help him should he one day become Australia’s first fast bowling captain in nearly 70 years.
That historic day has now arrived, and Cummins has revealed the Waugh school of captaincy will be one of his strongest influences.
“I had some really good chats with him. How he sees the game, and I really like his approach in a lot of ways to captaining,” Cummins told News Corp.
“He keeps things very simple. He backs the players in. I think there’s a lot to be said for that. “Sometimes keeping it simple can be harder than over analysing, and I really like that (simple) approach.”
Cummins also caught up with former Test captain Mark Taylor for a beer to talk captaincy earlier this year, when he was about to lead NSW in a couple of one-day matches.
Taylor is one of cricket’s most sensible and pragmatic figures and what Cummins took out of chatting to him and Waugh previously, was the confidence that he is capable of doing this job; regardless of what history might say about fast bowling captains.
Cummins is a fast learner and avid reader, an intelligent person who absorbs information like a sponge and who wants to grow and learn.
You can be certain the 28-year-old is taking on the massive responsibility of Test captaincy with his eyes wide open.
“I’ve spoken to a few (fast bowling captains) who have had some experience at a grade or Shield level. I’ve spoken to quite a few ex-Australian captains who have all been really supportive and have been able to share their advice on some of the challenging parts of being a bowling captain – but also opportunities that it might bring,” said Cummins.
“I’ve been given lots of great advice.”
When Waugh took over the captaincy in the West Indies in 1999 there were initial fears he would not connect with the playing group. But within a short space of time Waugh “defrosted” and decided he had to be who he was, and be his own man.
This simple but sincere mantra drove Australia to a record number of consecutive Test wins and is now inspiring Cummins. Being your own man. It’s a good place for a captain to start.
One of Waugh’s big assets was instilling confidence. He once dropped a throwaway line at a press conference, telling journalists, “don’t worry about Matthew Hayden’s Test average” – then in the mid 20s. “He will double that.” And he did.
The confidence he had in players like Justin Langer propelled them to great heights. Waugh would say; “I believe in you,” to players, and it was a big thing.
Fast bowling brother Mitchell Starc says Cummins possesses all those inspiring leadership characteristics, and can’t hide his personal pride that a member of the tribe is going to prove once and for all that captaincy is not a batsman’s domain.
“It’s interesting that bowlers are not seen as captains,” said Starc. “Pat has been phenomenal since he came back from his injury struggles and he’s such a robust cricketer now. I guess you could almost call it an old head on young shoulders if you like.
“His knowledge of the game is great. His calmness under pressure at any stage on and off the field is great.
“He never seems too rattled by much at all – especially in the last few years where he’s really dominated. He’s the No.1 Test bowler in the world for a reason and he knows his game inside out and has a real awareness of the people around him.”
Former Australian captain Michael Clarke was the first figure to ever nominate Cummins as the next Test skipper, and that was even before the Sandpapergate affair in South Africa in 2018.
Clarke is convinced now is the time for Cummins because of the age and experience of the Australian team – with so many old heads in David Warner, Steve Smith, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon and Starc around him to be his eyes and ears on the field.
Cummins has confirmed collaboration will be a key part of his leadership, especially this Ashes series.
“The bowlers are super experienced. They know their game really well and that’s probably going to be the biggest challenge as a bowling captain is out in the middle when we’re fielding,” said Cummins.
“Having really experienced guys obviously makes it a bit easier. Davey and Steve have played a lot of Test cricket. There’s a wealth of knowledge inside the team.”
One of the big unknowns of a fast bowler as a Test captain, is how much will it curb Cummins’ ability to continue playing all three forms and the IPL.
Will the added mental burden take more out of him than it would a batsman?
Cummins is hopeful the need for rest won’t be any different from the way he’s been managed as a fast bowler over recent years.
“I think after each busy Test series, you find that especially some of the quick bowlers find small pockets of rest,” he said.
“I don’t know whether you’d need any more, because you’ve put even more into a Test series. I really don’t know.
“I’d still love to play all formats. I doubt I’d be able to play every single game for Australia in the calendar but I’d hope I’d still be able to play as much as I did before.”
Which is good news for Australia, because they can’t afford their No.1 matchwinner to be anything short of the force he has been with the ball.
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