Khawaja and Harris nervous as Smith faces fitness test

A tour match against Derby this week will be a test of Steve Smith’s fitness ahead of the fourth Test at The Oval

Steve Smith at training in Headingley with former captain Ricky Ponting. Picture: Getty Images

A tour match against Derbyshire this week will be a test of Steve Smith’s fitness ahead of the fourth Test at The Oval and will decide the fate of whoever is to make way for him should he pass it.

The batsman, who missed the third Test after suffering a delayed onset concussion eight days ago at Lord’s, averaged 126 in the three innings he played in the series before being hit by Jofra Archer.

England look set to have a similar issue at the other end of the order, with James Anderson spied bowling at good pace before and after play at Headingley. The veteran quick missed Lord’s and most of the first Test with a calf injury.

Marnus Labuschagne has made the most of his opportunity filling in for Smith. He has been the topscorer in every one of those innings, averaging 71 and moving to second position behind the former Australian captain in runs scored for the series.

It’s been an agony for Smith to sit on the sidelines, especially after serving a 12-month ban for his role in the South African ball-tampering scandal, but his recovery has been carefully monitored.

He was sent back to the team hotel at lunch on the first day so he could get more rest and was only allowed a short training stint, taking gentle throwdowns, in the nets on Saturday. He batted for 25 minutes yesterday morning.

He is expected to be cleared by the medical staff to play at Derby, which will be a relief to the team.

Australia have relied too heavily on Smith and Labuschagne in all six innings of the series. Smith’s 144 on return was 100 runs more than anyone else scored and more than half of the total in the first innings at Edgbaston. A 142 was again the standout innings, alongside Matthew Wade’s century, in the second. He scored 92 at Lord’s in his last innings.

Labuschagne’s three half centuries have gone some way to making up for Smith’s absence and have been the top score in each of the innings Smith has sat out.

Wade (Edgbaston), David Warner (Headingley) and Travis Head (Edgbaston) are the only other Australian batsmen to reach 50 during the series.

Mitchell Starc cannot have enjoyed missing a start in the first three games and will have the batsmen at Derbyshire nervous in the match, which starts on Thursday. Starc will be determined to make a statement about his exclusion. Nervous, also, will be the underperforming members of the Australian batting line-up.

Marcus Harris has only had Headingley and shouldn’t be judged on such a small sample size but scores of 8 and 19 have not done enough to guarantee him another start.

Australia could move Usman Khawaja up to open, as he did in the UAE, freeing a place in the top order for Labuschagne and Smith.

Khawaja, however, is not immune from scrutiny, with an average of 20 and a highest score of 40.

It has not been a good series for opening bats, England’s openers have averaged 12.5 and Australia 10. No opening partnership has survived to the end of the 10th over and no Australian opening partnership to the end of the fifth.

Labuschagne has been a revelation. He found form and rhythm, batting through 18 innings for Glamorgan in division two. He is the only player in the UK with 1000 runs for the summer.

He is mining a rich vein of runs and admitted it was frustrating to be on the sidelines for the first three innings of the series.

He is one of the few modern batsmen who move their feet. The bright young cricketer, who is handy in the field and a rapidly improving wrist spinner, was not intimidated about replacing the best batsman in the world in Smith.

“It’s going to be pretty tough to fill Steve Smith’s shoes. But from a personal perspective I’m just trying to focus on my own game, not really trying to listen to the outside noise as much, making sure that sticking to your processes, your game, the way you play and then we’ll go from there,” he said.

“Yeah, look, playing for Glamorgan helped a lot. Playing 10 first-class games in probably less than two months, maybe a bit more, was very helpful.

“Playing against the swinging ball in different conditions — and just learning my game and learning to put big runs on the board — definitely helped me and built my confidence as well.

“Then transitioning to this — I think I didn’t play many other formats leading up to this, so my focus was really on red-ball cricket. So the lead-up and preparation was really good.”