Australia confident of Smith’s return for 2nd Test

Steven Smith is on course to be available for Australia’s second Test against the West Indies in Grenada, following the compound dislocation he sustained during the World Test Championship final against South Africa at Lord’s.

Smith spent the past week in New York, where he resumed batting using a tennis ball and an “incredi-ball” (a soft cricket training ball), before rejoining the squad in Barbados on Saturday evening after their three-day win in the opening Test.

He still has to complete a few medical protocols, with Tuesday’s training session in Grenada set to be a decisive one. However, head coach Andrew McDonald is confident Smith will be fit to return at No. 4, a move that will likely see Josh Inglis make way in the playing XI.

“It’s really about functionality around the finger rather than anything else. There’ll be no risk to long-term health of that finger. He’ll return and I think it’s likely he’ll play. Leading into the next game, he’ll have the main session two days out. He’ll (also) train the day before (the match). If that all goes well, then I’d expect Steve to resume at No. 4,” McDonald said.

The Australian head coach also made it clear that Smith, if returns, will not change his batting spot from No. 4 despite low returns from Cameron Green at No. 3.

“In terms of why we see him as No. 4, I think we’ve settled on that. We could slide him up higher if we wanted to. He’s been excellent at number three.

“But I think if you look at the last 12 months at No. 4 and his ability to stabilise that position, two down, arguably our greatest batter, we want to keep him at four and build around that rather than potentially risking too many moves in the order,” McDonald said.

Australia won the opening Test of the three-match series in Barbados by 159 runs to start their new WTC cycle on high. The second Test of the series will be played in Grenada from July 3.

McDonald also urged critics to show a bit of patience and time towards Sam Konstas’ performances, as the young opener is still adjusting to find his feet in Tests.

Konstas, who dazzled on his Test debut against India in the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, earned a recall for Australia’s series opener against the West Indies at Kensington Oval, which the visitors won by 159 runs in three days. But Konstas had a lean time – making scores of three and five in tricky conditions for batting.

“He’s debriefing that, and we’ve had some conversations around, if you’re in that situation again, what does that look like? And that’s what experience is; it’s learning from previous events and trying to implement a way through that. It felt like he was stuck at times.”

Indo-Asian News Service