“Why don't we go for it?” - Steve Smith opens up on his suggestion that caught England off guard on Day 2 at Lord’s
Australian batter Steve Smith has revealed that it was he who suggested to skipper Pat Cummins that they should try the short-ball tactic at England's batters following Nathan Lyon’s injury on Day 2 of the Lord’s Test. Smith added that he was surprised with England’s response to the ploy.
Responding to Australia’s first innings total of 416, England were in a good position at 188/1. However, Ollie Pope (42), Ben Duckett (98) and Joe Root (10) all perished while trying to take on the short ball as the hosts slipped to 222/4. An unbroken fifth-wicket stand of 56 between Harry Brook (45*) and Ben Stokes (17*) restored some sanity to proceedings.
While reflecting on the second day’s play at Lord’s in the ongoing Ashes series, Smith opened up about how Australia formulated the short-ball plan.
He said:
"It wasn't ideal [Lyon’s injury]. We're going to miss Nathan this game and could miss him for a little while. I said to Patty (Cummins), 'Why don't we go for it with the short stuff?'"
Elaborating on the idea, the former Aussie captain explained that the change in plan was to target England’s ‘Bazball’ philosophy as per which they are willing to take on any challenge.
The 34-year-old added:
"That's how they play their cricket, I thought it worked well on this wicket. We had to revert to a different tactic. It was interesting. You ask most of the fast bowlers, they probably wouldn't want to keep charging in and bowling short stuff, but while it looked as likely as it did on a pretty benign surface, I think it was the right way to go.
“If you get under a few, then we might stop doing it - maybe, I'm not sure - but they kept taking it on and they kept presenting opportunities for us," he said.
Apart from suggesting the plan, Smith also played a part in two of the three dismissals that followed. He caught Pope at deep backward square leg off Cameron Green’s bowling and took a brilliant diving catch to send back Root off Mitchell Starc.
While sharing his thoughts on the period of play where Australian bowlers dominated, Smith added:
“It felt like we were in the game for a lot of the time until Stokesy [Stokes] came out and started to duck under a few. He was only looking to get underneath the ball, or ride it. The rest were trying to take it on.”
England ended Day 2 of the Lord’s Test at 278/4, trailing Australia by 138 runs on the first innings.
“It didn't look good” - Steve Smith on Nathan Lyon’s injury
In a cruel twist of fate, off-spinner Lyon limped off the field with a calf injury after pulling up while fielding. The seasoned cricketer, playing in his 100th consecutive Test, had Zak Crawley stumped to move to 496 Test scalps.
However, it is likely that he might not take any further part in the match and may be even in the remainder of Ashes 2023.
Asked about Lyon’s injury, Smith admitted:
'It didn't look good. If he's (Lyon's) no good for the rest of the game, it's a huge loss for us. It's not ideal, particularly your spin bowler. It's your one player with one role. Batters - there are loads of us around.”
The Aussie batter, however, asserted:
“We've got Todd Murphy waiting in wings. He's been bowling beautifully in the nets and bowled really well in India when he got his opportunity so I'd be confident if he came in, he'd do a terrific job for us but fingers crossed that Nathan's alright.”
Nathan Lyon suffered an injury scare when he limped off with a calf problem during the second Ashes Test Match on day 2. (To Sportstar) https://t.co/N9BrKPJSys
Murphy made his Test debut on the tour of India earlier in the year and impressed with 14 wickets in four games.