Steve Smith must continue to battle emotions and improve body language, say Steve Waugh
TEST cricket’s ultimate ice man Steve Waugh wants to see Australian captain Steve Smith improve his body language when the heat is on this Ashes summer.
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TEST cricket’s ultimate ice man Steve Waugh wants to see Steve Smith improve his poker face when the heat is on this Ashes summer.
Smith has had issues with body language since taking over the Australian captaincy, and Waugh says the young skipper must work hard to combat his natural tendency to wear his heart on his sleeve at critical moments.
In India, Smith put his hand up and apologised over one particular incident where television cameras captured him labelling Murali Vijay a “F....ing cheat”, while commentators have at times queried his occasionally emotional on-field reactions to poor bowling or errors by teammates.
By his own admission, it’s an area Smith knows he needs to work on and in his book he reveals how he has tried to develop a tactic of jamming his hands deep into his pockets and “squeezing his thumbs hard” as a “coping” mechanism for dealing with pent-up emotions out in the middle.
Waugh, who will this weekend lead his foundation’s Captain’s Ride through Tasmania to raise money for children with rare diseases, was almost unflappable on the field during his Australian captaincy career, maintaining a completely level demeanour even in crisis situations.
Ricky Ponting often struggled with demonstrative moments on the field, particularly towards umpires, and Smith is another skipper whose ultra-competitiveness can occasionally get the better of him because letting it all out is such a natural urge.
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Waugh says it’s crucial Smith continues to try and improve his body language, with the entire world – not to mention his own teammates and opposition – privy to every move he makes on the big screen.
“I think he needs to continue to improve. It’s hard. He’s a very emotional cricketer,” said Waugh.
“He wears his heart on his sleeve, whereas I could control that a lot easier and pack my emotions away and not show too much.
“If it doesn’t come naturally, it’s hard to do.
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“But one thing I would say, these days if you’re at first slip and you’re kicking the ground or there’s body language that’s not positive, the chances are it’s going to be replayed somewhere and the bowlers are going to see it.
“If you’re playing grade cricket you can get away with it, but not when you’ve got 20 cameras on you.
“I think he’s just got to be aware that the camera is always on him. That’s something I had in the back of my mind. Whatever I did was going to be magnified and monitored and exaggerated, so I made a decision to keep all my emotions in check and not give too much away.
“But it’s a bit of a difficult situation, because if it comes naturally, it’s very hard to turn it off.”
Waugh is out to raise awareness and significant founding for The Steve Waugh Foundation as he prepares to embark on another arduous Captain’s Ride, and donations can be made at www.captainsride.com.au.
Fast bowling leader Josh Hazlewood says Smith has made major improvements in his communication with the bowling attack.
“(Body language) is definitely important, although you don’t want him to be encouraging bad bowling either,” said Hazlewood.
“You want him to be honest, that’s the main thing. Whether he does that in front of everyone or just comes up to you, everyone is different … but he’s definitely improved in that regard.
“He showed it quite obvious in the field when he was first captain, I guess he rode the emotion a little bit as you’d expect for quite a young skipper. He’s a very competitive guy as most captains are and that just shines through in his body language.
“I think he’s come a long way in that and he’s very level now on the field. He knows that cricket is a pretty up and down game and if we do the right things for long enough we’ll be right.
“Bowlers obviously look to him if things aren’t going well and see what he’s got for you … and he’s definitely improved in that regard and I think he’s fantastic now. He’s a very good communicator on the field, especially with the bowlers and honesty is the main part of that.”
Originally published as Steve Smith must continue to battle emotions and improve body language, say Steve Waugh