In forty years of watching cricket, I have seen a lot of great batsmen. No, I did not see W. G. Grace, Victor Trumper, Jack Hobbs, Wally Hammond, Charlie McCartney, Don Bradman or anyone previous to 1976. And yes I have seen the likes of Brian Lara, Sachin Tendulkar, Jacques Kallis, Kumar Sangakkara and anyone else you would like to mention from around the world in that time. Closer to home, you can never mention toughest batsmen ever without the names of Allan Border and David Boon being immediately recalled. Up until ten years ago, my opinion was that I had seen no finer batsmen than Greg Chappell and Viv Richards. They were the two who above all others I considered to be the greatest. About eight years ago I added Ricky Ponting to that list. Though he may have faded in his final couple of years, his innings when Australia needed him brought him into that established group. And while people are free to throw names like Lara and Tendulkar at me, those are the three I consider at the top of the tree.
I am now beginning to believe that the name of Steve Smith will have to be added to that list.
Smith has a long way to go in his career. There is every chance that at some stage it won’t be as rosy as the last four years have been, and thus a judgement call on this sort of thinking cannot be made presently. But anyone who watched his innings on the third day of this 1st Test would have to have been thinking much the same thing. Because this wasn’t just another innings where Smith found his way into gaps and blasted the odd ball through the field on his way to a fast paced century. No this was something completely different that defied everything you may have thought about the Australian captain’s batting.
Joe Root showed that he and his team had clearly thought up some plans for the Australian batsmen yesterday, and they paid off. Today, especially once Marsh had been dismissed for a career-extending 50, the plan was to set a field such that the line that was bowled would cut off practically every safe way of scoring runs, and only allow ways that would have a high element of risk involved in getting the ball into the gaps. In that first session, it involved six men on the leg side in a faux-Bodyline setting with three on the boundary and three in a semi-circle a pitch length from the bat, while on the off side the was a slip, a gully and a fly slip. It left the field between point and mid-on completely vacant. With the ball being delivered short in at the body consistently, it meant that the risk was high to hook or pull, and also to try and move away to play into the off side. The bowling had to be spot on to execute it, and for the most part it was. The English, like yesterday, has posed a question to the batsman, and now it was a matter of what the response would be.
For the two hours of the first session, this was how Smith was attacked. He played the short ball to his feet, he swayed, he ducked, he pottered. At no stage did he look to take the field on, he just patiently waited for each ball and played it on its merits. The run rate slowed to a crawl, but that wasn’t his fault. He simply refused to buckle, or to allow the tactic to get on top of him. In this he was wonderfully supported by Pat Cummins, who also stood his ground and failed to be budged. Without his innings, Smith would have been forced to take a different tact, but while Cummins defended stoutly and then launched the occasional textbook cover drive to the fence, he was able to stay in his own groove. In the three hours up until drinks of the middle session, Steve Smith scored 30 runs. Australia had scored 87 in total. But it was fascinating cricket. The partnership between Smith and Cummins added 66 runs in over 32 overs, of which Cummins scored 42. Smith brought up his century with a magnificent cover drive, just about the only ball pitched in his half in four hours. It had taken 261 deliveries of graft, grind and absolute patience against the bowling tactics of the English team. At tea Australia was 8/287, still behind the England total, but now within touching distance, something England would have though nigh on impossible when Starc had been dismissed at 7/209. After tea Smith was faced with a change in tactics, with now seven on the offside and the bowling line outside the off stump. And still he waited for the loose ball, for the ball to get runs with little risk, while Hazlewood and Lyon continued the fight, supporting their captain to the very end. When that finally came, Australia had managed to reach 328, a lead of 26. Smith remained not out on 141, having faced 326 deliveries and batted for more than eight and a half hours. It was an innings for the ages, though many tried to bely the tactics and the lack of pure aggression from the bowling attack, and questioning why Anderson and Broad had only bowled a total of seven overs with the new ball before it was passed on to the less experienced Woakes and Ball to take over.
England could only drag themselves seven runs in front by stumps, having lost both Cook and Vince to a recharged and vibrant Josh Hazlewood who thrived in the hour before stumps to reclaim some of his own venom with the ball. Both teams had some harmony restored between them when a violent Starc bouncer crashed into a poorly defended Joe Root, his helmet taking an awful beating in the process. Starc and Warner were immediately at his side, ensuring his welfare with wry smiles all around. Just three years on from the demise of Phil Hughes, it was a moment to reflect that his downfall is still uppermost in the minds of all cricketers. With Root determined to lead by staying on the field, the pantomime concluded with a very high bouncer being delivered to finish the over, easily ducked by Root who like the rest of Australia expected it, and a shared smile of knowing between batsman and bowler reminding everyone that the game moves on.
Joe Root showed that he and his team had clearly thought up some plans for the Australian batsmen yesterday, and they paid off. Today, especially once Marsh had been dismissed for a career-extending 50, the plan was to set a field such that the line that was bowled would cut off practically every safe way of scoring runs, and only allow ways that would have a high element of risk involved in getting the ball into the gaps. In that first session, it involved six men on the leg side in a faux-Bodyline setting with three on the boundary and three in a semi-circle a pitch length from the bat, while on the off side the was a slip, a gully and a fly slip. It left the field between point and mid-on completely vacant. With the ball being delivered short in at the body consistently, it meant that the risk was high to hook or pull, and also to try and move away to play into the off side. The bowling had to be spot on to execute it, and for the most part it was. The English, like yesterday, has posed a question to the batsman, and now it was a matter of what the response would be.
For the two hours of the first session, this was how Smith was attacked. He played the short ball to his feet, he swayed, he ducked, he pottered. At no stage did he look to take the field on, he just patiently waited for each ball and played it on its merits. The run rate slowed to a crawl, but that wasn’t his fault. He simply refused to buckle, or to allow the tactic to get on top of him. In this he was wonderfully supported by Pat Cummins, who also stood his ground and failed to be budged. Without his innings, Smith would have been forced to take a different tact, but while Cummins defended stoutly and then launched the occasional textbook cover drive to the fence, he was able to stay in his own groove. In the three hours up until drinks of the middle session, Steve Smith scored 30 runs. Australia had scored 87 in total. But it was fascinating cricket. The partnership between Smith and Cummins added 66 runs in over 32 overs, of which Cummins scored 42. Smith brought up his century with a magnificent cover drive, just about the only ball pitched in his half in four hours. It had taken 261 deliveries of graft, grind and absolute patience against the bowling tactics of the English team. At tea Australia was 8/287, still behind the England total, but now within touching distance, something England would have though nigh on impossible when Starc had been dismissed at 7/209. After tea Smith was faced with a change in tactics, with now seven on the offside and the bowling line outside the off stump. And still he waited for the loose ball, for the ball to get runs with little risk, while Hazlewood and Lyon continued the fight, supporting their captain to the very end. When that finally came, Australia had managed to reach 328, a lead of 26. Smith remained not out on 141, having faced 326 deliveries and batted for more than eight and a half hours. It was an innings for the ages, though many tried to bely the tactics and the lack of pure aggression from the bowling attack, and questioning why Anderson and Broad had only bowled a total of seven overs with the new ball before it was passed on to the less experienced Woakes and Ball to take over.
England could only drag themselves seven runs in front by stumps, having lost both Cook and Vince to a recharged and vibrant Josh Hazlewood who thrived in the hour before stumps to reclaim some of his own venom with the ball. Both teams had some harmony restored between them when a violent Starc bouncer crashed into a poorly defended Joe Root, his helmet taking an awful beating in the process. Starc and Warner were immediately at his side, ensuring his welfare with wry smiles all around. Just three years on from the demise of Phil Hughes, it was a moment to reflect that his downfall is still uppermost in the minds of all cricketers. With Root determined to lead by staying on the field, the pantomime concluded with a very high bouncer being delivered to finish the over, easily ducked by Root who like the rest of Australia expected it, and a shared smile of knowing between batsman and bowler reminding everyone that the game moves on.
Today’s innings by Steve Smith should not be dismissed easily. It was a work of art, an innings of a captain who refused to buckle, who fought every inch of the way to keep his team in the game, and eventually to ensure they got a lead they never looked like achieving the previous afternoon. Australia has had some great captains, and has seen some wonderful captains innings that have changed the course of a Test match. None have been better than what the Australian captain produced in Brisbane here today, and if it gives his team a lead in this series then it should be held up for eternity as one of the greatest innings of the modern era.
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