Steve Smith steps up for Australia batting coach Michael Di Venuto

Steve Smith has come out in defence of Australia’s under fire batting coach after the veteran mentor copped strong criticism from Ian Healy.

Steve Smith has staunchly defended Michael Di Venuto after Aussie great Ian Healy pointed the finger at the Australia’s batting coach over a “regression” in the side’s runs output.

Smith has meanwhile revealed tested his injured finger at a baseball cage in New York as he prepares to return to the side this week.

The former captain joined teammates in Barbados over the weekend ahead of the team’s departure for the second Test in Grenada.

Provided he gets through training without any issues, Smith will slot straight back into the Aussie XI at the National Cricket Stadium in St George’s, almost certainly replacing Josh Inglis.

Smith missed Australia’s 159-run win in the first Test at Kensington Oval after suffering a compound dislocation when dropping a catch in the World Test Championship final against South Africa at Lord’s.

In his absence, the Aussies’ revamped top four struggled as a collective against a rampant Shamar Joseph on a difficult Bajan wicket. Australia was 3-22 and 4-65 respectively across its two innings, continuing a trend of modest output.

Australia coach Michael Di Venuto working with Sam Konstas. Picture: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images

Healy said Di Venuto – currently on his second stint with the national coaching panel – deserved scrutiny over the side’s batting performance.

“I love to put it back onto the players more than coaches usually. But, as I said, Australian cricket’s batting head coach – and every state batting coach – should be under pressure because there’s not enough runs being scored around the nation either,” Healy said on SEN.

“Michael Di Venuto – a friend of mine who is a good coach and a good man – has held the job since mid-2021. In this time, our national team batting has regressed in performance at the Test level,” he added.

But Smith backed in the Tasmanian, saying that ultimately it was the players who had to perform.

“I think Diva has been great for a long time in both stints he’s had in the Australian setup. I’ve been obviously privy to both of those. And I think the way he’s learned over the years, he obviously went and did some head coaching stuff at Surrey and had some success there as well,” Smith said.

“His knowledge of batting is second to none. He’s not the one out there actually doing the batting. You know, guys have to be able to figure it out themselves out in the middle sometimes.

“You can’t have someone holding your hand out there. So any criticism of Diva (I’m) completely against. He works as hard as anyone. He knows batting inside out. He’s seen cricket all around the world, and knows all the conditions. He’s done a wonderful job for a long time now, and the boys really enjoyed working with him.”

Smith explained that his decision to head to New York in the lead-up and during the first Test was a result of boredom, with his options in Barbados limited because of the potential for the humidity to disrupt his rehabilitation.

“I was honestly just bored here. I couldn’t do anything, I couldn’t sweat. I was sort of stuck in the room doing nothing,” Smith said.

“So yeah, obviously got the apartment four and a half hours away. (Wife) Dani was back there. Dogs are back there, so go back, sit in the airconditioning, watch the boys play. And that was good.”

He was able to put the finger to the test.

“I found a baseball cage. My mate actually told me about it, which was ideal, because it was pretty warm like 36 degrees, so up on, like 71st and the West Side Highway there was underneath this bridge, there was a batting cage, and he was able to throw me a few balls there. So it was, it was good to be in the shade, pretty hot there.”

Steve Smith will bat in a splint for the rest of the series.

Smith was sporting a splint when he addressed Australian reporters on Sunday morning (local time). While he is likely to be OK to bat, he will need to step away from his usual spot in the slip cordon because of the injury.

“I think for me it’ll just feel like training as normal,” Smith said of his preparations in Grenada.

“I don’t feel really any pain or anything. So yeah, it’s all feeling good just getting used to the splint on and just the slight, limited movement, I suppose, with the tape and the splint. I mean, it’s not too bad.

“And then probably fielding some balls in front of the wicket, which would probably be the strangest thing for me. I don’t think I’ve ever done that in a Test match.”

Originally published as Steve Smith steps up for Australia batting coach Michael Di Venuto