Cricket 2022: Steve Smith breaks silence on controversial reaction to Usman Khawaja run-out saga
Vice-captain Steve Smith has addressed the run-out controversy involving Usman Khawaja that took the shine off Australia’s first Test win.
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Runs and not run outs are the clear and present focus for Steve Smith who is desperate to turn nearly a month’s worth of net sessions in Sri Lanka into a big score when the second Test starts on Friday in Galle.
Smith was the focus of criticism from many including former Australian captain Mark Taylor after his emotional and pointed response to being run out for just six in the first match last week.
Taylor said Smith, the team’s vice-captain and a former captain himself, needed to be “better than that” after staring down batting partner Usman Khawaja, his shirt covered in dirt after an unsuccessful dive, with each batter playing a role in the wicket.
But after a second net session on a steamy Tuesday morning in Galle, Smith, while acknowledging he was “pretty upset” about getting out at that stage of the game, said there was no lingering issues.
“I hate getting run out, I think anyone does, particularly given the conditions and just gifting them a wicket, as one of the most experienced players I was pretty upset,” he said.
“That happens in the game, I got over it pretty quickly, I had to keep moving forward. I spoke to Uz (Khawaja) straight after, it was pretty chilled, mix ups happen and you keep moving on.”
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Smith’s 11-ball stay was his first innings since injuring his quad in the one-day series in the middle of June, leaving him to copious amounts of net sessions, and throw downs from bowling coach Dan Vettori, to work his way into form.
He said missing the turning wickets in the final three ODIs was akin to missing a “tour match” given the batting conditions were similar to what the Aussies confronted in the first Test, and what they will see in the second.
He was confident the net conditions were, however, “conducive” to what the batters will experience on a Galle pitch set to get its inspection from the national ground curation chief on Wednesday, with the Aussies unsure just what its final condition will be.
But the wicket is unlikely to be conducive to the “Baz ball” phenomenon sweeping Test cricket in England, with the English batters blitzing their way to big fourth innings targets with one-day style batting under new coach Brendon McCullum.
While Smith said it was “entertaining” he wondered whether it was sustainable not only on different wickets around the world, like the spinning ones in Sri Lanka, but also against an Australian attack of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood on a green pitch, which the English will confront in next year’s Ashes.
“I mean it‘s been exciting. I’m just intrigued to see how long it sort of lasts, if it’s sustainable,” Smith said.
“You know, if you come on a wicket that‘s got some grass on it and you know, Josh Hazlewood and Cummins and Starc are rolling in at you. Is it going to be the same? Things can turn around pretty quick.
“So, I don‘t know. I’m intrigued by it.”
But while “Baz ball” isn’t quite the Aussie way in Sri Lanka, Smith said the courageous batting which propelled the tourists to a winning first innings total of 321 in the opening match was the way to go in Friday‘s rematch where inactive batters can be sitting ducks.
“We went at a good pace in the first test, if you were sitting there and not paying your shots and looking to score you were going to get out eventually,” he said.,
“It was kind of get them before they get us. Whether that’s the same this Test, we will wait and see.”
The Australians are likely to go in with an unchanged line-up for the match.
AFL club behind Green’s evolution
Even after playing 13 tests in three countries there still remains an unreal sensation for Cameron Green that he’s playing for Australia.
The 23-year-old all-rounder played an innings most thought beyond a Sri Lankan first-timer to steady a somewhat rattling Aussie batting order and push them to what ultimately was a winning position in the first Test at Galle.
His 77 runs, coming in at 4-100 on a dicey sub-continental deck, wasn’t enough for him to tick of that first Test century box, which continues to nag at him.
But it was more than anyone else in a match was able to muster and played amid in an environment of active chaos which belied his years fledgling status.
A move towards focusing on mindfulness and meditation, tapping in the resources at the West Coast Eagles in his home town of Perth, has helped Green put his focus on the things that serve him best, which isn’t always worrying about numbers.
He conceded it took him “12 months” from his test introduction to find his feet having made his debut against India in 2020 in a match famous for the tourists falling apart to be all out for 36.
In the 18-month period since, he’s also navigated the pandemic with his teammates, his former captain, Tim Paine, stepping down in ugly circumstances and a coaching changeover which was a touch tumultuous.
A home Ashes win, Australia’s first Test to Pakistan in more than 20 years and now touring Sri Lanka, which is caught in an economic crisis causing fuel shortages, have presented Green with enough experiences for an entire career.
“I think it took me about 12 months to kind of get it, just to build relationships I think with the playing group and the staff and kind of how it all works and basically everything comes with touring,” Green told News Corp.
“And probably the last couple of tours I kind of felt really comfortable with how it all works.
“Coming from Pakistan too, I‘ve had a few massive tours to know now it’s not going to be any harder than that.
“We hadn‘t been there for 24 years, a lot of military is looking after you and there’s no social life away from cricket. You are kind of stuck in a hotel with everybody. So it’s kind of nice that it’s not going to get any harder than that.
“Even coming here, we‘ve got a bit of security, there’s a bit going on, but it’s nowhere near what it was back in Pakistan. So every tour not from now on is going to be better, which is a good way to look at it.”
Green has made a significant point whenever he rejoins the test squad to lean on the experienced players to learn not only the ropes of touring, but what it takes to succeed as a batter wherever they go.
Test captain Pat Cummins made a point of acknowledging, after Green’s star turn in the opening match at Galle, how even some of those older players were impressed by the young batter working on a plan, and sticking to it with clear success.
“From ball one, really sharp, a really clear method,” Cummins said.
“Speaking to some of older guys as well, [to] find his method and then just being brave enough to try it, that was the difference in the end.”
Green, who not too long ago was a wannabe, albeit a teen prodigy, watching those stars he’s now learning off, said he still got a buzz just being around them, which made going to work a whole lot of fun.
“Yeah, definitely when you hop on a plane every single time and you get to train with guys like Patti (Cummins) and Steve (Smith) and Nath (Lyon) and that’s leaving quite a few names out,” Green said.
“So yeah, you are definitely still that little kid who remembers watching these guys and you kind of can’t believe you are there and helping the team win games.
“So yeah, it’s still very exciting.”
‘That’s my priority’: Test stars turn back on BBL
Australian Test captain Pat Cummins won’t be rushing to join the Big Bash should a window open up this summer and is adamant the importance of his fellow internationals to the competition has been “overstated”.
Fast bowler Mitchell Starc is another who won’t be lining up in the BBL this summer as he prioritises international cricket all year round with a 2023 schedule set to take the Australians to India twice plus an Ashes series in England.
The likely cancellation of a one-day series between Australia and South Africa in January could allow those multi-format Australian players like Cummins, Starc, Steve Smith and Davd Warner to link up with a franchise.
Smith, who was denied a last-gasp effort join the Sydney Sixers for last year’s finals, will is some chance to play while Usman Khawaja, now just a Test player, Mitchell Swepson, Nathan Lyon and Alex Carey, who plays both Tests and one-day internationals, all have BBL contracts for this summer.
Test number three Marnus Labuschagne is also set to re-sign with the Brisbane and Travis Head always makes himself available for the Adelaide Strikers.
There’s been a strong push from officials to get Australia’s best players to make themselves available as much as possible, and the next Memoriam of Understanding could create a mechanise which demands it.
But Cummins, who last played BBL in 2019, said he would always prioritise international cricket and believed the T20 tournament was a strong enough product to survive his absence.
“The international schedule is so packed and that’s my priority. It’s going to be tough (to play BBL) but I think in some ways it’s been overstated our importance to the comp,” he said in Sri Lanka, playing a two-test series.
“The same four, five or six guys haven’t really played for the past few years and the competition has been going great. I don’t think it’s a huge factor if we are there or not.”
A detailed look at the upcoming workload reveals just how taxing it’s set to become after staying home for most of 2021.
After the tour in Sri Lanka, Australia have white-ball series against Zimbabwe, New Zealand, India, England and West Indies as well as a home T20 World Cup.
Following that there are five home tests against the West Indies and South Africa, then the huge 2023 schedule.
But while Cummins, understandably, is looking for a breather, young gun cameron Green, who is a strong part of Australia’s one-day World Cup plans for 2023, will have a hit in the BBL if time allows.
“Definitely,” the 23-year-old said.
“Growing up watching the Big Bash I couldn’t wait to play in it.
“Unfortunately, our schedule hasn‘t really allowed for it so but this summer for sure looks like there’s definitely a good window to play so I think everyone’s excited to play when they get the chance. So yeah that’s very exciting. “
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