Australia will look to defend their WTC title against South Africa
Steve Smith had a superb run with the bat near the beginning of this year. After a big dry run, the 36-year-old came alive in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at home against India with scores of 101 at the Gabba and 140 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Australia won the series 3-1 at home after 10 years.
Smith was then named captain for the tour of Sri Lanka as they team looked for their first win of the Warne-Muralitharan Trophy in the island nation in 12 years.
Smith led from the front with scores of 141 and 131 as Australia soundly beat the hosts 2-0 to clinch the trophy without majority of the regular seniors in their ranks.
In the process, Smith also reached the hallowed ground of 10,000 runs in Test cricket, becoming only the fourth Australian to reach the landmark after legendary captains Allan Border, Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting.
While his late career resurgence continues and has the chance to win back-to-back World Test Championships, Smith revealed that he hasn’t picked up his bat in over three months.
Smith didn’t play in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 after the Champions Trophy 2025 and decided to spend time on his fitness in New York, according to ESPNCricinfo.
“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. But I made a conscious decision to try and just let it go for a while. It was good,” Smith told ESPNCricinfo.
ALSO READ:
“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,” he added.
Even if Smith hasn’t batted for that long, he is confident of his exploits in England and specifically at the Lord’s where he will play the WTC final against South Africa from June 11.
Smith averages 55 in England and 58 at Lord’s. He even scored a match-winning hundred against India in 2023.
“I feel like I’ve been in the team for a while and I haven’t felt under a great deal of pressure. Maybe a little bit after Adelaide last year (vs India) was the most I’ve felt. And maybe why I came out the next game and was really, really hungry to get a good score in Brisbane. But that was external talk and things cross my desk all the time. People send me things that people are saying. So I don’t know, maybe something clicked in me and I wanted to get back to the position of being a bit more comfortable again,” Smith about his lean run and finding form in the BGT.
South Africa will be eyeing their first ICC trophy since the 1998 Champions Trophy against Australia.
For more updates, follow CricXtasy on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Telegram, and YouTube.
