NEWS
Follow UsSteve Smith has been a Test cricketer for the best part of 14 years, but the 35-year-old believes that the last three years in Australia have dished out the ‘hardest batting conditions’ he’s seen in his career.
Australia was the most batter-friendly country in the world during the 2014-2019 period, but batting averages have dropped drastically Down Under since the introduction of the new Kookaburra ball in 2021, falling from 35 to 27.
The ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy has also been dominated by ball. In eight innings so far, there have been four team totals under 200 across the first two Tests of the series.
“The last three years have probably been the hardest [batting conditions] I’ve experienced in my career, in terms of the amount of movement that’s been generated. You can see that in terms of the scores and both bowling & batting averages coming down,” Smith said.
“Five years ago, you were seeing consistent scores of 400 & 500 in the first innings. These days, you’re in a pretty strong position if you put a 3 in front of the score. You’ve got to think about that as well, when you’re thinking about the play.”
READ: Decoded ft. Phil Jaques: Why has batting become harder in Australia?
Smith claimed that, due to the dropping averages, batters now have to be judged relatively, not based on numbers blindly.
“Sometimes if you don’t get a hundred [in these tough conditions], it’s not the end of the world. A good 60 and a good 30 at times can be really crucial,” he said.
In that sense, the 35-year-old lauded the efforts of Australia’s top three at the Gabba for absorbing pressure and seeing off the new ball. Usman Khawaja, Nathan McSweeney and Marnus Labuschagne combinedly scored only 42 runs, but faced 158 balls between them. It meant that Travis Head walked in at the 34th over and got the chance to bat against a relatively older ball.
“A lot of credit has to go to the top three, they faced 50 balls each which I think is a pretty good effort on this wicket,” Smith said.
“If we can sort of get to 30-odd overs when Travis [Head] comes in, it makes a big difference to the team. The seam probably settles down around 30-40 overs and the ball stays quite hard. “That’s why you see guys batting at No.5, No.6 and No.7 hit the ball hard and get good value for their shots. That’s how we’ve been setting up.”
Head walked in at 75/3 and hammered 152 off 160 balls to put Australia in pole position. It was his second consecutive daddy ton and the ninth of his career overall.
Smith was full of praise for the left-hander, who has made a habit of bullying India with the bat.
“The way he’s able to put the bowlers under pressure from the outset is quite incredible,” Smith said of Head.
“He’s got an incredible eye and the areas where he scores, it’s tough to put the fielders there in a way. He’s batting beautifully, he’s confident and it’s nice to put on a partnership with him as the scoreboard moves extremely fast.”
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