Why rainfall and runs go together for master of visualisation, Steve Smith
Steve Smith famously struggles to sleep at night when he’s playing Tests, but he may have found a solution. Plus why not being captain hasn’t affected his approach to the game.
Cricket
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Australia is in the midst of one of its worst ever droughts, but there is one place where the sound of rain is certain next week … in Steve Smith’s hotel room.
The run-scoring superstar admits a new life free of the pressures of Test captaincy has done nothing to cure his battles with insomnia, with his powers of concentration so all-encompassing, it can double as a curse.
Smith reveals his mind explodes into such vivid detail as he visualises his next innings that he can’t switch it off.
The 30-year-old has turned to the pitter patter of rain drops to try to break the sleepless nights that can ultimately exhaust him during Test matches.
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“Before I bat I’m still pretty ordinary. I’m working on a few different techniques to get better. I’ve been listening to something that I think has actually helped a bit, which is listening to the rain app on my phone,” Smith told The Saturday Telegraph.
“That seems to have made a bit of a difference and I do that quite a lot now.
“I just find it hard to switch my brain off. It’s all to do with doing my visualisation:
“Watching bowlers running in at me. Where I’m hitting them, and things like that.
“It’s all positive, but I wish I could just turn it off if that makes sense.”
Cricket may have never seen anything to match Smith’s extraordinary powers of concentration.
But it can come at a cost.
By the end of the Ashes, after he had spent the majority of four Test matches out in the middle, Smith fell physically ill as a result of the physical and mental drain.
Some have speculated that Smith – who on Friday signed a comeback cameo deal with the Sydney Sixers – must feel liberated without the burden of captaincy.
But the batting king reveals his all-or-nothing personality makes it impossible for his total investment in the game to be scaled back.
“There’s not as much stuff to do before games, with press and things like that. But I actually don’t look at the game any differently,” says Smith.
“When I’m out on the field, I’m still looking at everything and that hasn’t changed since I’ve started playing. I just concentrate on every ball and look at what’s going on in the game.
“Whether I’m making decisions or not, I still view the game the same.
“Not a lot has changed in that aspect.”
Smith’s single-mindedness manifested itself in a low level code of conduct charge for showing dissent to an umpire in the NSW Sheffield Shield match.
After making 103, Smith couldn’t hide his disappointment at feeling he’d been given out unjustly.
Smith concedes that masking his emotions when dismissed is one aspect of his quirky persona he does need to be more aware of.
“I get pretty disappointed every time I get out. I’m not an easy one to say, ‘stop batting.’” he said.
“Perhaps it’s something I do need to work on.
“I’ve got so many different mannerisms I do, that I don’t know I’m doing, so perhaps it’s something I do need to look at when I get out.
“I don’t think there was a heap in it, but it is what it is and I’ll cop it and move on.”
In a major boon for late-season Big Bash television ratings and crowds this summer, Smith has signed a short-term deal to return to the Sydney Sixers after a long hiatus.
Smith will only be available for the final two matches of the regular season and finals, but if the Sixers can progress to the playoffs, his injection could be a highlight of the summer.
Fox Cricket and Channel 7 were desperate for Smith and David Warner to be allowed to play in the Big Bash during their bans last summer, with the networks searching for star power.
“It’s nice to be back in the magenta. I’ve got some pretty fond memories of wearing this kit,” Smith said.
“We won the first ever Big Bash back in 2011 and a Champions League that year as well. Some great memories wearing these colours and it is great to be back at the SCG and playing for the Sixers again.”
Originally published as Why rainfall and runs go together for master of visualisation, Steve Smith
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