Steve Smith’s relentless work ethic could be ‘to his detriment’
Australian legend Ricky Ponting believes Steve Smith needs to be reeled in to save him from himself, but the Australian superstar is unapologetic about his insatiable thirst for work.
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Ricky Ponting was pacing down the hotel hallway when he heard that unmistakeable ‘tap, tap, tap’ sound coming from Steve Smith’s room.
“Were you batting at 7 o’clock this morning?” Ponting asked the workaholic batsman.
“Yeah, I was actually,” Smith replied.
“I always have a bat in my room.”
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Ponting has previously pointed out that Smith’s batting obsession borders on unhealthy.
“He’s a very hard worker, probably to his detriment sometimes,” Ponting said.
“He almost does a bit too much batting. Sometimes we have to slow him down.”
Coach Justin Langer recently revealed that even when the willow went away, Smith’s mind refused to let go.
“He’s just shadow batting the whole time,” Langer said.
“He’s shadow batting on the sand (in Gallipoli), he’s shadow batting in the shower — I’m not joking.”
Smith laughed off Langer and blocked out Ponting.
“I don’t know how (Langer’s) spying on me in the shower,” Smith said.
“(But) you’ve got to trust people’s preparation. I’ve been around quite a while now and I’ve played a lot of cricket.
“I’m reasonably experienced and I’ve learned a bit over the last couple of years to sometimes just take the foot off the pedal.
“Some of the more inexperienced guys might need a bit more guidance, but guys that have played a lot of cricket know their preparation.”
At Ponting’s first World Cup training session in Southampton — he joined the Australian camp late due to the IPL — Smith opted in for an optional session.
Four hours later and Ponting was still on the field with Smith, watching him take about 100 slips catches after he had faced up to the quicks.
David Warner rarely bats 24 hours before a match. Smith never misses.
It is clearly working. Smith has batted for Australia 10 times since his ball-tampering ban expired and is averaging 80 runs.
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When Australia was 5/79 against West Indies, its only batting crisis at the World Cup, it was only Smith who reacted to the fiery Test-style bowling with Test-style batting (73 off 103).
But while Smith and Warner are the two cricketers Australia wants to hear from, they’ve been heard from the least.
It’s been 47 days since they arrived in Brisbane for the World Cup camp and they’ve spoken a combined three times, the fewest of the squad, instead wanting their bats to do the talking.
Captain Aaron Finch was rolled out four times in five days last week.
But after Smith punished Sri Lanka with 73 (59), his third half-century in 10 days, a rare media opportunity followed.
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Smith, unsurprisingly, played a straight bat.
How is his relationship with ball-tampering architect Warner?
“We’re getting on well,” he said.
“Working hard together and doing what we can for the team so everything’s good.”
What about enemy Virat Kohli’s request for Indian fans to replace their jeers with cheers?
“Yeah look,it was a lovely gesture,” Smith said.
“It doesn’t really bother me what the crowd do. I’m just sort of blocking it all out, but it was a lovely gesture from Virat.”
Does Smith want to captain Australia again?
“I’m honestly not thinking about it.
“It’s just about playing well in this World Cup. I think Finchy (Aaron Finch) is doing a fantastic job and I am helping him out as much as I can in certain aspects.
“He’s doing a magnificent job.”
Smith is right. Finch is in total control at the World Cup, regarded by England’s Michael Vaughan as the No.1 skipper.
But when Smith becomes eligible to hold an Australian leadership position again in 2020, Test skipper Tim Paine will be 35.
That’s one year older than Michael Clarke when he stepped down, and one year younger than Ponting when he handed the reigns to Clarke.
Smith will be just 30, albeit his eyes showing more strain than when he replaced Clarke as cricket’s golden boy four years ago.
With Finch now holding more microphones than cricket bats between matches, has the leadership release helped Smith’s batting?
“I don’t think that ever hindered me,” he said.
“I’ve always just loved batting, and wanted to bat as much as I could in the nets.
“That probably played against me at times, batting too much in the nets and not freshening myself up.
“That’s one thing I’m learning as I am getting older, that balance of knowing to relax. Especially if I’m hitting the ball well, not just keep on hitting because it is fun.”
After just three warm-up games New Zealand coach Gary Stead marvelled at Smith’s ability to hit his bowler’s best balls for runs, while Kevin Pietersen scoffed at suggestions Smith was too slow for 50-over cricket.
Smith’s strike-rate jumped above 100 on Saturday and he is could jump Usman Khawaja to the No.3 position.
“Sometimes you may need to play like a Test match and sometimes you may need to play like a T20,” Smith said.
“When you’ve got 25 overs to go and you’re only one down, it becomes a T20 mindset.
“I’ve played a lot of T20 cricket and know the game. I know the situation a lot of the time, it’s about summing it up and playing according to what needs to be done out in the middle.”
SMITH IN AUSSIE COLOURS AGAIN
Runs: 637
Average: 79.6
Strike-rate: 93.1
WORLD CUP
18 (27) vs Afghanistan
73 (103) vs West Indies
69 (70) vs India
10 (13) vs Pakistan
73 (59) vs Sri Lanka
WARM-UP GAMES
22 (43) vs New Zealand
89* (77) vs New Zealand
91* (108) vs New Zealand
76 (82) vs West Indies
116 (102) vs England
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