Steve Smith, Australia's top batsman, said he hasn't faced a ball since missing a full toss from Mohammed Shami in the 2025 Champions Trophy semifinal, ahead of his match against South Africa in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC 2025) Final.
Smith declared his retirement from ODI cricket following that match, in which he struck 73 as Australia lost the semi-final.
It is surprising that Smith, who is obsessed with the bat and shadow practices whenever he can, didn't touch the bat at all while his teammates were at the IPL or County Championship.
"I'd normally have a bat lying 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. 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. Normally, how it works is my first hit's good, my second hit's awful, and then I'd get better from there. But both hits were just really good, and I was like, hopefully it doesn't turn around now and I don't have to spend hours in the nets the next couple of days," a rejuvenated Smith was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.
Australia look as front-runners to defend their WTC crown against South Africa when the one-off final happens at Lord's from June 11-15.
Additionally helpful is the fact that Smith, 36, averages 55 in England's Test matches, which soars to 58.33 at Lord's. Additionally, he scored 121 in the 2023 World Test Championship final at The Oval versus India.
Before he blasted back-to-back hundreds against India in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series and went on to hit two more centuries on the trip to Sri Lanka earlier this year, Smith had a pause in his century-scoring.
He added that he adopted a "less is more" practice philosophy after speaking with former Australian batter Michael Hussey.
"We're a bit older, we've hit a lot of balls. It's about having that mental side as switched on as it can be for the big moments. And you don't want to use up all your energy in the nets. There's a fine balance, of course. I'm someone who needs to feel really prepared.
And I don't want to leave any stone unturned in my preparation so that when I go to the middle, I'm ready to play. But I've also got to realise that the older you get, the mental side, I think, probably wears a little bit thinner on you. And you've got to try and be in the best space you can be in the middle to bat for long periods of time.
Sometimes I might get the balance wrong. But when you're hitting the ball well, you can sort of do what you want in terms of your preparation in a way. You can just let it be and trust that when you get to the middle, it's all going to be okay," he concluded.
(IANS inputs)
