Steve Smith took his batting to a different level altogether in the recently-concluded Ashes series, scoring three fabulous centuries to help Australia retain the urn for the very first time since 2001 on English soil.
Considering his prowess in the Ashes 2019 which saw him achieve the average of 64.56 after 124 innings, Smith’s unorthodox batting technique has once again become a hot topic of discussion. In particular, purists are wondering how a batsman can succeed at the highest level with that sort of unconventional style.
Amid the buzz, Smith’s formative coach Trent Woodhill has said that his ward’s uniqueness and unorthodox styles should be celebrated. He also lamented Australian cricket’s aversion to embrace unorthodox styles, saying Smith’s exclusivity would be accepted in the Indian system, which is totally result-driven.
“If Steven was Indian, his technique and mechanics and the strategy around his batting would just be accepted,” Woodhill was quoted as saying in ESPNcricinfo.
“We see Kohli, Gavaskar, (Rohit) Sharma, Ganguly, Sehwag – all these players have unique techniques. The Indian system is all about output, about scoring runs, ‘We don’t care how you do it as long as you do it’, whereas in Australia we wanted you to score well and we wanted you to look good.”
Apart from his hundreds (144, 142 and 211), Smith registered the scores of 92, 82, 80 and 23 in the Ashes series. In seven outings, the former Aussie skipper aggregated 774 runs at an astonishing average of 110.57.
Woodhill isn’t too happy with those struggling to accept uniqueness, saying this attitude can have a negative impact on a young player’s career.
“Young players need protection from both themselves and others who don’t like difference. A cricket dressing room can be a brutal place for a young player, who might be forced to conform – more so in Australia than any other country I’ve been in.
“In Australia we struggle with things that are different. We like a sexy Shaun Marsh thirty, made with a conventional, attractive technique, rather than an unconventional Steven Smith hundred.”
He gave the example of legendary India leg-spinner Anil Kumble and Afghanistan’s star wrist spinner Rashid Khan while talking about the unconventional approach.
“Other nations just find a way to accommodate such players. Like a Rashid Khan, who holds the ball like an offspinner but bowls legspin, an Anil Kumble – seam-up, wristspin, predominantly wrong’un.
“Australian cricket likes to pass the baton on: this is how you do it, this is how it’s always been done. Steven’s come along, and to some extent, David Warner’s come along and said, ‘No, we’re gonna do it this way now’, and they’ve had a lot of success,” Woodhill observed.
He also hailed Steve Smith as the best batsman since the great Sir Don Bradman.
“The old guard, the older Test greats, still can’t understand how it works. So they still think, especially bowlers, ‘Well, if I was bowling, I’d sort this guy out’.
“And that’s the thing with cricket, especially in England and Australia: ‘If I can’t understand how it looks, it can’t work’.
“Steven has proven them wrong. He’s the best since Bradman; this is not even an argument anymore.”
