Steve Smith opens up on finger injury which has him in doubt for West Indies, and Lord’s

Steve Smith has opened up on his “love hate” relationship with Lord’s as he detailed the gruesome finger injury which has put him in doubt for the first Test in the West Indies.

Steve Smith has opened up on his “love hate” relationship with Lord’s as he detailed the gruesome finger injury which has put him in doubt for the first Test in the West Indies.

The Australian Test vice-captain revealed he has avoided a break which would have put him on the sidelines for an extended period of time, but now his recovery is mostly about getting comfortable playing with the discomfort of gripping a bat while his wound heals.

Smith suffered a compound fracture when the bone of the little finger on his right hand pierced through the skin, which occurred when he dropped a crucial catch off South African WTC Final matchwinner Temba Bavuma after deliberately standing up close to the bat under a helmet.

Steve Smith drops Temba Bavuma and suffered a compound fracture in his finger for his troubles. Picture: Getty Images

“Yeah I was obviously standing pretty close with the helmet on there,” Smith said.

“As we’d seen throughout the game a lot of nicks went short of first and second slip so the plan was to stand pretty close and I lost sight of it with the angle Mitchell Starc was bowling and it went inside Bavuma’s hip so I actually didn’t quite see it until really late and it kind of dipped on me a little bit late as well.

“It was tricky. It obviously didn’t go in my hand very well and fortunately there’s no break there, it just split the skin and dislocated it which made me feel pretty ill at that stage.

“But I think I’m in a splint for eight weeks now and maybe able to play with it in a couple of weeks.

“It’ll depend on my functionality and what I’m able to do but it’s probably the best result I could have hoped for.”

Steve Smith of Australia speaks to team mates following his side's defeat in the World Test Championship Final. Picture: Getty Images

Smith has scored more runs at Lord’s than any non-English cricketer in history, but the pain of losing a WTC Final has him taking away mixed memories from the famous ground.

“I have a love-hate relationship with this place now. I’ve had some really good memories, had some not so good ones as well,” Smith said.

“Getting hit in the head by Jofra (Archer) in 2019 (Ashes) and having my digit knocked off out here yesterday.

“It’s a love hate but it’s a wonderful place to play cricket. I have enjoyed it here and it was a really good game of cricket again.”

Originally published as Steve Smith opens up on finger injury which has him in doubt for West Indies, and Lord’s