Smudge ready for WTC grind and slogfest after long break following his American reset after recently turning 36.
Bat down, hunger up: Smudge ready for Lord’s after American reset.
A few athletes attended the IPL. Some participated in county cricket. In Brisbane, those at home received training. Just a few days ago, Steven Smith, who has been in New York, picked up a bat for the first time in three months. He immediately left his first net session after saying, “Can we play tomorrow? I’m ready to go,” to head coach Andrew McDonald.
With almost 10,000 Test innings under your belt, you can be sure that you know what’s best, and the Australian setup lets players customise their preparation to suit their preferences. Although they didn’t see the light of day while Smith was in America, where he worked hard on a fitness regimen with a new personal trainer, it still went against the grain for a batting maniac like Smith to refrain from taking up the willow for so long. Smith, who had his 36th birthday last week, stated that he likely hasn’t been as strong since 2014 and that he would benefit from increased hip mobility during the slide.
“I’d normally have a bat laying around the house somewhere and just pick it up and do a bit of shadow batting and stuff,” he said. “But I made a conscious decision to try and just let it go for a while. It was good.
“I hadn’t hit a ball since I missed a full toss off Mohammed Shami in the Champions Trophy. Fortunately, everything sort of clicked into place immediately. I feel like I’m moving really well, I feel strong and just ready to get into it now.
“Normally how it works is my first hit’s good, my second hit’s awful, and then I’d get better from there. But both hits were just really good and I was like, hopefully it doesn’t turn around now and I don’t have to spend hours in the nets the next couple of days.”
It “almost felt like we were playing at Perth stadium,” Smith said of the extra bounce provided by the centre wicket at Beckenham, where Australia conducted their first training block. He anticipates a bit different action when preparations move to Lord’s on Sunday.
“I play a lot of back foot shots here, I don’t tend to get too far forward to the ball. I try and score really square of the wicket,” he said. “It kind of just suits me in a way. Hopefully can kick off where I left off the last couple of Tests that we played [in Sri Lanka].”