The quirky moment everything clicked for Steve Smith

Steve Smith was struggling to come to terms with the pink ball on Wednesday, until one moment changed everything for the Aussie star.

Steve Smith faces more deliveries in the nets than any cricketer in the Australian Test side – potentially more than any cricketer in history.

The 32-year-old’s training sessions provide a fascinating glimpse into how he prepares for Test cricket – and ahead of the second Ashes Test in Adelaide, how he prepares for the added challenges of facing the pink ball under lights.

Catch every moment of The Ashes live and ad-break free during play on Kayo. New to Kayo? Try 14-days free now.

Smith, who has averaged 90.04 in Ashes cricket since 2015, was dismissed by England paceman Mark Wood for 12 in his lone innings at the Gabba.

Wood came wide of the crease and pitched the ball short of a good length – the delivery nipped away just enough to catch the right-hander’s outside edge.

Smith looked bemused as he walked back to the sheds – it was an uncharacteristic dismissal from the Australian vice-captain, who on most occasions would have let the ball through to the keeper.

“Just a lazy shot from Steve Smith,” former Australian batter Mark Waugh said on Fox Cricket.

New Zealand’s Neil Wagner discovered a potential chink in Smith’s armour during the 2019/20 home summer, dismissing the batter four times during a three-match Test series.

The majority of those wickets came from short-pitched bowling directed at the body, and the ploy seemingly worked wonders, with Smith failing to reach triple figures against the Kiwis.

But the Aussie wasn’t fazed by the strategy.

“I‘ve faced a lot of short bowling in my life, and I haven’t had too many stresses with it,” he told News Corp last year.

Steve Smith at the Adelaide Oval nets on Wednesday. Photo by Sarah Reed/Getty Images

On Wednesday afternoon, Smith waltzed into the Adelaide Oval nets with three young net bowlers waiting at the other end. It was his final opportunity to get accustomed to the intricacies of the pink Kookaburra before the day-night Test.

Less than 24 hours later, Smith would be announced the Australian Test captain in the absence of Pat Cummins, who on Thursday morning was deemed by SA Health to be a close contact of a person who had tested positive to Covid-19.

It quickly became apparent that Smith was focusing on one thing in particular – the first 20 deliveries he faced were all short of a good length.

Either Smith or the coaching staff must have asked for the trio of young pacemen to pepper the Australian vice-captain with short stuff, and they dutifully obliged.

And on the seaming practice wickets near Adelaide Oval’s Western Stand, Smith initially struggled against the pink Kookaburra. His first stroke was a cut shot, which he bottom-edged into the deck. He next attempted a pull shot, but the pink ball ballooned awkwardly off the splice of the bat, mistimed because of some awkward footwork.

Then, after about 20 deliveries, one of the young bowlers finally overpitched. Smith rocked onto the front foot and smoked it through the covers – it was the first shot that had come off the middle of his bat.

There was no celebration, and no change of facial expression from Smith.

The quirky routine Smith is widely renowned for, where he touches nearly every piece of protective equipment between deliveries, remains when he’s training in the nets. Between every ball, he would fiddle with his thigh guard and pads before taking guard.

Soon after, a short delivery nipped off the deck and struck Smith on the hand. The 32-year-old grimaced as he slowly took off his glove and inspected a finger before resuming 30 seconds later.

He still hadn’t uttered a word at this stage, and nobody had spoken to him. While Justin Langer and assistant coach Andrew McDonald talked through strategy and technique with batters in the adjacent nets, Smith was left to his own devices.

“I don‘t coach Smith, he coaches himself,” Langer said earlier this year.

A thing of beauty. Could watch SPDS bat all afternoon and into the night… which England most probably will. pic.twitter.com/VAc8s4fJtY

— Theo Doropoulos (@TheoDrop) December 15, 2021

There were at least eight cameras pointing at Smith as he toiled away, with about half a dozen journalists watching his every move – he was unfazed by the attention, confined in his own little bubble.

He ducked a short delivery and quickly returned to his feet, suddenly a bit more lively at the crease. A leave, a solid back foot defence and a well-controlled pull shot followed. He nodded to himself.

And then finally, in what must have been the 45th delivery he faced, he cracked one through the covers off the back foot.

“Yep,” Smith muttered, calling an imaginary teammate through for a run. It was the first time he had spoken in almost 15 minutes.

The delivery was almost identical to Wood’s dismissal at the Gabba six days earlier – short of a good length outside the off stump, fractionally moving away from the right-hander off the deck.

From there on, onlookers witnessed nothing but vintage Steve Smith – it was as though he had flicked a switch.

Pull shots, glances off the hip, reliable defence and a couple of ferocious drives when the bowlers overpitched. He looked like a different player.

Smith revealed last month he had changed his grip ahead of the 2021/22 summer – it was more open, with his hands slightly looser on the handle when playing through the off-side.

“It helps me with short stuff and playing the pull shot,” he said earlier this month.

Smith hasn’t scored a century at Adelaide Oval in more than seven years – he hasn’t reached triple figures in a day-night Test since 2016. It’s a drought that he’ll be eager to end over the coming five days.

The captaincy will also give Smith plenty of confidence – he averages 70.36 in Test cricket when a “C” is next to his name in the scorebook.