- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
The Indian Test tour 14 months ago was tumultuous on and off the field. The 4-0 drubbing signified a drop in Australian cricket standards.
The outcry from various corners of the world was that Australian cricket had reached the bottom of the barrel and needed to scrape that same barrel to produce an upcoming Test batsman.
Twelve months on, not only is Australia ranked the number one team but importantly they have unearthed a prospering Test match batsman. That task seemed improbable when Australia was winless during the exasperating period between February and September last year.
Steve Smith’s rise in the past twelve months might seem like gradual, as his current Test average hovers around 40, but in the context of Australia’s demand for batsmen it has been swift.
Smith had played five Tests before he was picked in the starting eleven, due to the homework saga in Mohali during the third Test. It was a turbulent time. The captain and the vice captain were supposedly in different corners while the coaching methods employed were that of a business module out of an MBA text book. It felt like there was no way out for Australian cricket.
It was certainly not an ideal situation to return to Test cricket.
On the following day Smith showcased his ability with the bat against the turning ball. The pitch wasn’t a rank turner, but walking in to bat when you have seen Australia’s captain walk straight past the first ball he faced must add to the nerves.
But Smith was not to be deterred. He passed the test with flying colours, scoring a mature, determined and patient 92. It was Smith’s first innings for Australia since taking the advise of his state coaches to concentrate solely on his batting and try to mould as a batsman rather than a genuine all rounder.
The transition started only 12 months prior for NSW, where Smith batted at number four for majority of the season. While the stats didn’t back his promotion it was his timely innings on a sub-continental pitch at Blacktown Oval against Western Australia that made the selectors pick him for the Indian tour.
His quick footwork against spinners ensured Smith was Australia’s best player of spin after Michael Clarke. Smith ended up with 161 runs from two final Test matches, the most among the Australian batsmen. The 46 he scored in Delhi was a great knock and as worthy as his 92 in the third Test, given only two fifties were scored on either sides on crumbling pitch.
It was enough to secure him a place in the Ashes squad.
The spin test had been conquered, but now Smith had to overcome the challenge of the swinging ball. In the first innings at Edgbaston the signs were promising. Smith showcased a fine technique to score a gritty and determined 53. It wasn’t an innings to make headlines but the way Smith handled James Anderson on a gloomy and overcast day was a further glimpse of the revamped Steve Smith.
It was a mental win for Smith because in the 2010/11 Ashes at home, Smith left his bat hanging like washing on the line and the ball kept kissing the outside or the inside edge. Throughout that summer he was made to look like a boy playing against grown men.
But in that first innings in Edgbaston the key to Smith’s innings was the way he left the ball. Smith also had the shots to score runs but now he had the technique to keep the good balls out.
It was an innings that would have given Smith enormous confidence. The technical deficiency in his game had been eradicated through hard work and his determination to transform into a top order batsman had surfaced.
The only issue he had in England was he found ways to get out. He bottom edged on to his stumps and was caught at deep mid wicket trying to reach his first ton. He was also the recipient of a couple of inaccurate decisions.
Finally, his luck turned in the final Test and Smith reached his maiden Test hundred. It was the last tick Smith had set out for since turning out for NSW nearly fifteen months ago. Techinque, patience, confidence and strokes – Smith had it all.
Smith’s batting in Tests didn’t go unnoticed and one of the wisest decisions the Australian selectors persisted with was not to tinker with his style. They didn’t want Smith to start wafting outside off stump and nor did they want him to get into the mindset of the short format of the game.
The ideology was that Australia needed Smith as a front line Test batsman for the Ashes at home. They could ill afford for Smith to lose the touch with the longer format of the game by sending him to India for a seven-match ODI series. It turned out to be a master stroke, as in the space of next five Test matches he proved to his critics he had arrived on the Test scene.
The man from the “Shire” may have missed out on the first two Tests with the bat, but while all the accolades were poured over team mates in Mitchell Johnson, Brad Haddin, Ryan Harris and Clarke, Smith gathered himself to dig Australia out of the doldrums in Perth to score a fine century.
Behind the scenes you sensed Smith knew he now belonged in Test cricket.
But Smith was not finished yet. He saved his best for the final Test in front of his crowd on a pitch that was clearly underprepared. In the 10 Ashes Test innings Smith had accumulated 672 runs at an average of 42 with three Test hundreds. All the tons in were in the first innings and came at a point when Australia desperately needed a batsmen to stand up.
While Steve Smith might have convinced his team mates, coaching staff and himself, many pundits still had the thoughts of “let’s see how he goes against Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander”.
In Centurion on a bouncy pitch he batted diligently. The South Africans wanted him to poke at short wide balls but he resisted. They bowled outside off stump, enticing him to play a loose drive, but he resisted. Smith left and left and left. He scrambled to fifty and then feasted on the loose balls targeted at his body or his legs.
It was classic example of how to construct a Test innings, something that was a distant dream even for Smith when he tried ever so hard to score a ton for NSW in first class cricket twelve months ago. Now in the space of 13 Tests he had four Test hundreds, including two nineties. It showcased his dramatic rise.
Once again David Warner’s batting and Johnson’s bowling captured all the headlines as Australia defeated the number one team on their home soil. In Australia’s seven wins from eight Tests, Smith was overshadowed despite playing match-winning knocks in four of the seven Tests.
Johnson, Harris and Haddin might have resurrected Australian cricket in the short terms, but Steve Smith’s revelation as a batsmen ensures Australia will be a force going forward.
Australia has unearthed a batsman that can be the backbone of their Test batting line-up for a number of years to come. That itself has perhaps been Australia’s greatest accomplishment in the past twelve months.
Build your own fantasy cricket team and put it to the test with Draftstars daily fantasy competitions. Pick your match, pick your team and watch the points roll in to take out cash prizes on each match. What are you really gambling with? Set a deposit limit.