“I nearly fell in it, almost twisted my ankle” - Steve Smith jokes about David Warner’s new batting guard
Australian batter Steve Smith joked that he almost fell into the trench-like guard that opener David Warner had made while batting on Day 1 of the World Test Championship (WTC) final against India.
Smith, who was unbeaten on 95 overnight, went on to complete a well-deserved 31st Test ton on Day 2 of the WTC final on Thursday. Smith and Travis Head (163) tons put Australia in a strong position as they ended their first innings on 469.
Earlier on Day 1, Warner lifted Australia with a fluent 60-ball 43 after the side lost Usman Khawaja for a duck. During his knock, Warner employed an unusual guard. During the lunch interval on Day 2, Ricky Ponting discussed Warner’s crater-like guard.
While in a usual batting guard, the marks run perpendicular to the stump the batter asks for, Warner created what represented a small trench parallel to the stumps. There were holes on either end of the batting guard.
When asked about Warner’s somewhat bizarre batting guard, Smith quipped:
"I nearly fell in it. I got used to it eventually but almost twisted my ankle a few balls to be honest then I sort of got used to it. I've never experienced that before on that side really, you occasionally get the edging of the footmarks at the backend of the game where you kind of fall into them where you are off balance, but when I'm moving to off stump and I've got this hole there it's something I haven't experienced before.
"I'd no idea it was coming until I walked out and marked my guard and saw this big hole. Was just wondering who made this? Think I asked Marnus [Labuschagne] what was going on at the end, there's a big hole I'm about to fall into. It was odd."
Smith and Head added 285 runs for the fourth wicket to rescue Australia from 76/3 after they were asked to bat by India. The former Aussie captain jokingly credited Warner’s digging antics for playing a part in his success.
"Maybe he should it more often, it worked for me. He can keep digging that hole I suppose… whatever the batter needs I suppose to get themselves into a good position," Smith added.
Smith’s fine knock ended when he was bowled by Shardul Thakur for 121 off 268 balls, a knock comprising 19 fours.
“That's the sign of a modern player” - Ponting hails Warner
Reacting to Warner adopting a new method to try and mark his guard, Ponting praised the veteran batter for his commitment towards improving his game.
Speaking on Channel Seven, he explained details of the opener’s new guard.
"He's actually got a line going across the back vertical to the stump line. And look at each end of that line there, there's two quite deep holes. Now I know for a fact, having worked with David Warner for the last couple of years, a lot on his batting, when he's batting his worst, his trigger movement has gone back outside leg stump," Ponting said.
"So only two days ago he came up with this plan of digging two holes and making sure that when he moved his foot that his foot stayed within those two holes. If he moved back and across, he could feel his heel going into the hole. If you move too far across to the off stump, then his toes go into the hole," he continued.
"That's the sign of a modern player, someone that's played over 100 Tests still trying to find a way to get better," Ponting added.
Warner struck eight fours in his fluent knock of 43 before caught down leg off a short ball from Thakur.