Aussie cricket star Steve Smith’s trip to Chris Hemsworth’s house of pain

Star Aussie cricketer Steve Smith’s current batting woes clearly don’t have anything to do with a lack of fitness.

Steve Smith completed a one-week torture camp with Chris Hemsworth’s trainer to prepare him for one of the most brutal stretches of cricket in his career.

The star Aussie batsman travelled to Byron Bay to work out with Luke Zocchi in July before tackling a jam-packed schedule that started with a white ball tour of England in August, continued with the Indian Premier League and is now seeing him combat India on home soil.

News Corp Australia cricket writers Ben Horne and Robert Craddock gained the inside scoop on Smith’s week with Zocchi – and discovered one thing that shocked the celebrity trainer and another anecdote that won’t surprise any Smith fans.

The shock? Smith is a cardio king – and strong.

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“Not to diss cricketers, but I think I went into it thinking he would be nowhere near as fit or strong as what he was,” Zocchi told News Corp Australia.

“And he’s bloody focused and determined. I put him through some hard sessions and he blew me away actually how athletic he was to be honest. I was really surprised how strong he was.

Smith blew Zocchi away with his strength.

But he still has a little bit of work to do to get to Thor's level.

“He had me covered in cardio.

“We were doing some crazy assault bike and rowing sessions and he had me in the later stages of these hour-long workouts.”

And the most predictable part of the story? Zocchi regularly witnessed Smith practising his batting in between sets.

“In between a hectic chest workout, while he was having his rest, I could see out the corner of my eye he was playing cricket shots,” said Zocchi.

Read the full story about Smith’s trip, which included a tennis match with Pat Rafter and a game of cricket in Hemsworth’s driveway.