Steve Smith and David Warner wow in strong return to Australian cricket

DAVID Warner has put an exclamation point on his return to grade cricket with a big score on his return to Australia.

Smith received a warm welcome back to Australian cricket.

DAVID Warner and Steve Smith have both impressed on their returns to Australian cricket.

Playing at Coogee Oval for Randwick-Petersham, Warner smashed a century and capped it off with a trademark celebration, leaping into the air and waving his bat.

The crowd, which had been building from a smattering from early in the day, gave Warner a great reception as he moved into triple figures.

Earlier, Randwick-Petersham side were fielding in front of a small group of fans sprinkled around the ground.

Warner, who is still ranked number five in both the Test and ODI rankings, faced returning Aussie quick Josh Hazlewood and NSW Blues seamer Trent Copeland for St George.

Randwick were chasing 278 to win with Warner putting in a great platform at the top of the order.

.@davidwarner31 reaches his century for @RandyPetesCC vs @stgeorgedcc in grade #cricket at Coogee Oval.@PremCricketNSW @abcgrandstand @abcnews #DavidWarner pic.twitter.com/kdlSoGO9Wq

— Duncan Huntsdale (@duncs_h) September 22, 2018

At the level Smith first made a name for himself before rising the heights of international cricket, the pair began their enforced demotion in humble scenes in Sydney’s first grade competition.

A few hundred spectators were at Glenn McGrath Oval early to watch Smith line up for Sutherland, who batted first.

The crowd didn’t have to wait too long to get what they wanted when Smith came into bat with his team 1/65 as the crowd built.

Cricket.com.au reported the crowd built to over 1000 through the morning as word of Smith batting spread.

In his first game back on Australian soil since the ball-tampering scandal exploded in South Africa in March, Smith received a warm welcome from the crowd, with the spectators applauding every run for the former Aussie skipper scored.

The crowd was in at Glenn McGrath Oval in Caringbah to see the return of Smith.

It was almost over before it began. Smith, on 12 off 10 balls, smashed a straight drive off Mosman captain Scott Rodgie, only for the ball to burst through his hands.

Smith was finally dismissed for 85 of 92 balls, caught off a leading edge after skying a late-innings slog.

Sutherland scored 238.

Smith out for 85 from 92 balls, caught at mid-on skying a slog in the final overs pic.twitter.com/pIZqeAoZIe

— Samuel Ferris (@samuelfez) September 22, 2018

The return of Smith even helped the club sell plenty of sausages at the BBQ.

Sutherland cricket club normally has no BBQ on match days. Today, because Steve Smith is playing (and batting beautifully), they’ve already sold 400 sausages and cleaned the local Woolworths out of sliced onions. And the queue! pic.twitter.com/MQqUM1HEaT

— Anthony Sharwood (@antsharwood) September 22, 2018

It was first grade cricket outing since 2013, while Smith hadn’t been in the Sutherland team since round one of 2014-15.

Sutherland treasurer Tom Iceton said Smith had slotted straight back into life as a grade player.

“It was funny watching Steve when he got here early on Tuesday for the first practice season, he’s shaking hands and introducing himself to young guys who are probably just starry eyed,” Iceton said.

“He’s just dropped straight back into club life. I know he’s looking forward to making the best of the situation but we’re very excited by it.”

Iceton said having Smith at the club would help the younger players, particularly the rapidly rising Austin Waugh.

The ball-tampering scandal, which led to the 12 month suspension of Smith and Warner and nine month ban of Cameron Bancroft, hasn’t been a topic of discussion at the club according to Iceton.

Steve Smith scored 85 in his grade cricket return.

“I think he’s come to terms with all of the fallout and moved on from what happened six months ago — certainly no one at the club has mentioned it,” he said.

“It’s irrelevant to us now, it’s done and dusted.

“I think he’s just looking forward and making the most of the situation he’s got. Last season Shane Watson played about a third of the season with us and it’s the first time he’s had an extended stint in grade cricket for many years and he loved it. He’d forgotten what grade cricket was like and he kept saying “mate, this is fantastic, I just love it, it’s such a relaxed atmosphere”.

Was great to be able to see the return of Steve Smith to Aussie shores. pic.twitter.com/TtCq1EFmey

— Andrew McMurtry (@AndrewMcMurtry) September 22, 2018

Smithy will find the same and I think that’s going to help him.

“He’s preparing himself for the end of March when the suspension expires and then he’s looking to get back in the Australian team for whatever the first opportunity is but I think going about his cricket in the relatively relaxed atmosphere of grade cricket will be good for him.

“Once things settle down, and we’re trying to minimise the circus like atmosphere of today, but once today’s out of the way I think it’ll be easier and we’re all looking forward to seeing how he goes.

“We don’t know how many games he’s going to play at this stage but however long he is here, you just can’t imagine. Imagine a couple of blokes making their debut for us today, aged 18, and they’re walking out to play with the Australian captain, it doesn’t get much better than that.”

The familiar sight of a Dave Warner leap after a century.

One of the debutants, 18-year-old Flynn Parker, was excited and nervous with the hype and coverage with Smith’s grade return building an atmosphere of excitement.

Glenn McGrath also presented him his first cap.

Flynn’s brother Zac, 20 was one of the first spectators on the hill and said playing first grade alongside Steve Smith “means everything”.

“This is kind of like a make or break situation for him. If he bowls as well as he can, there’s a lot of people watching and they’ll know who he is if he gets a couple of wickets,” Zac said.

“If he plays really well today, it could be really good times in the future.”

Speaking before play, Zac said he hoped Smith would score a 50, something with which the Aussie star obliged.

“It’d be good to see him even get past 50 and see him bat again because we’re not going to see him bat on TV again for a while to come now,” he said.

“I thought it was a bit harsh for Steve — 12 months is a bit too harsh. A couple of games, maybe six months but 12 months is a long time.

“It’s a shame because he was playing so good for Australia and there are a lot of young kids who want to go see Steve Smith bat and can’t do that for 12 months.”