Australia v New Zealand: Steve Smith’s weakness to short ball exposed

Steve Smith was considered un-dismissible during the Ashes, but there is a firming notion he has a weakness against the short ball.

Australia’s Steve Smith ducks under a short ball from New Zealand’s Neil Wagner during the first Test in Perth. Picture: AP

Steve Smith was considered un-dismissible during the Ashes, but there is a firming notion that he has a weakness against the short ball.

The indomitable New Zealand quick Neil Wagner provided the greatest entertainment in Perth, concentrating on a leg-theory style attack that had Tim Paine cracking wise about Bodyline after the match.

The left-armer exposed something of a flaw in Smith’s game by having him caught twice off the short ball. Statistical website CricViz claimed Wagner bowled 193 short balls in a match where 21 of the 31 wickets that fell to seam were from that style of delivery.

CricViz noted that of the five times Smith has been dismissed by seam since being struck by Jofra Archer in the second Ashes Test, three of those instances have been to short bowling.

Smith is averaging below 25 this summer and has not reached 50 since returning from the Ashes.

Black Caps skipper Kane Williamson admitted it was a tactic that worked well on the Perth pitch, which was fast and a little erratic as its cracks opened but questioned whether it would be as effective in Melbourne.

“It was a tactic on a pitch like this when it did age and there were cracks and the bounce become a little bit more variable then it proved to be effective. It’s not for everywhere,” he said. “It’s also something that the likes of Neil Wagner have been very successful doing for us in his role for a long period of time. So I don’t know if it says any more than what we’ve had in this match but we’ll wait and see.

“Now we go from here to the MCG and we’ll have to adjust to those conditions and come back to the red ball. So these guys will look forward to a couple of days reflecting and then prepare for next week”

The sight of Pat Cummins stretching, limping and throwing down a handful of pills before bowling in the last session of the Perth Test highlights Australia’s concerns going into the Boxing Day match.

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The world’s best bowler lived up to his billing and clearly was not carrying any serious injury but workloads and work management loom large for the home side and visitors as the cricket escapes the Perth heat and returns to the relatively cooler eastern climes.

The Australian seamers had an easier time of it, bowling 32 overs in the first innings and 33 in the next while Wagner bowled 60 by himself.

The surface hurt the bowlers’ knees and even those who didn’t bowl were feeling the effects, complaining of sore hamstrings and legs.

While James Pattinson would appear the next in line to replace the injured Josh Hazlewood for the game at the MCG after featuring in the Ashes, he may face some competition from Michael Neser who is a handy batsman and averages 25 for Queensland and even scored a century in a domestic one-day match against Western Australia in 2017.

Neser was 12th man and impressed in the field while substituting for Hazlewood, who is understood to have a low-level tear to the hamstring but one that might keep him out of the remaining Test matches.

Pattinson is also a solid batsman with a first class average of 23. With Melbourne likely to be flat and the side wary of how many overs the quicks will bowl before a fast turnaround to the Sydney Test on January 3, there could even be a chance the side would play four seamers, drop Travis Head and bat Tim Paine at No 6.

Australia will also have an eye on a fly-in-fly-out ODI series in India between January 14 and 19. While unhappy to have to interrupt the summer at the BCCI’s insistence, Justin Langer and selectors will realise that there is an expectation they arrive with a strong squad. Mitchell Starc, Hazlewood and Cummins are likely to be leant on to tour and there is a fair chance Marnus Labuschagne will be rewarded for his outstanding first class form and given the chance to make his ODI debut.

The exciting No 3 has a Test average of 58 from his 12 Tests and has picked up 11 wickets at an average of 38 with his ever-improving legspin bowling.

David Warner has a full dance card and while he is not signed to any Big Bash team he will climb into the commentary box for Fox Sports and call Wednesday’s game between the Sydney Sixers and Perth Scorchers at the SCG.

The BBL season begins Tuesday and will provide silly season entertainment between and through what is left of the Test series and the ODI tour of India.

Cricket Australia would dearly love to get its big name players into the competition but the schedule is so tight anything beyond the odd cameo is impossible.