Earlier, the Australian batter dislocated his finger in the World Test Championship final loss to South Africa at Lord's.
Australia star batter Steve Smith is likely to make a comeback in the playing XI for the second Test against the West Indies in Grenada starting Friday, as per Australian head coach Andrew McDonald.
After Australia’s 159-run win in the first match of the series in Barbados, Pat Cummins disclosed that Smith would be returning to the Test team in the days ahead. Shortly after, the vice captain came up with an Instagram story showing him boarding a flight from New York to Barbados.
Andrew McDonald stated that Smith needs to pass every medical and fitness Test before coming into Australia’s playing XI. Earlier, the Australian batter dislocated his finger in the World Test Championship final loss to South Africa at Lord’s.
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“It’s really about functionality around the finger rather than anything else. There’ll be no risk to the 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.
Steve Smith has been in New York for some time now, and Cummins said that he held his bat a few times to get that feeling again after he dislocated his finger.
“He’s had a few hits over in New York, which I think was with a tennis ball and an incredi-balI think his wound is looking good, so the next stage is to come over here and hit some balls in the nets”, Cummins said.
It is not unusual for an Australian batsman to rejoin the team after hardly batting against a genuine cricket ball. Travis Head, for example, recovered from a broken head halfway through the 2023 ODI World Cup after hitting tennis balls in the nets.
Although the 36-year-old’s presence would ease the strain on Australia’s inexperienced hitters, Cummins was unimpressed by the lacklustre performances of Konstas, Green, and Inglis in Australia’s first match without Smith or the fired Marnus Labuschagne, who McDonald stated might be cut from the team to play county cricket for Glamorgan or in Australia A’s series against Sri Lanka A in Darwin next month.
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