After scoring his 32nd test century for Australia earlier on Thursday, Steve Smith found himself in the odd situation of having to bowl the final few balls of the day to Ben Stokes, the captain of England. This is not a job that Steve Smith appears to like doing.
“Hopefully I won’t have to bowl too much,” he told reporters after coming in shortly before the conclusion of the second day of the second Ashes test to relieve Australia’s fatigued fast bowlers after an injury to their usual spinner Nathan Lyon. The injury occurred during the second day of the second test.
While attempting to make a catch while running in for the visitors, Lyon pulled up and seemed to have hurt his right calf. This was Lyon’s one hundredth straight test appearance for the away team.
That meant that Smith would be the one to bowl the final over of the day, following some spin bowling contributions from Travis Head shortly before him.
I haven’t been putting any effort into improving my bowling at all! When questioned about his time spent in single-over, Smith responded with a chuckle.
“Heady bowled in a manner that I believed was acceptable. When questioned about the team’s choices for the remainder of the Lord’s test, he responded by saying, “Heady’s probably the one that’s going to have to take a fair chunk of the spin, and then maybe myself and Marnus (Labuschagne) will chop in here and there.” He said this in response to a question concerning the team’s lineup for the remainder of the test.
Ben Duckett of the England national team stated that the home team conveyed their best wishes to Lyon, a competitor that they clearly admire.
I sincerely hope that it won’t be too difficult for him. You should do all in your power to avoid seeing someone become hurt. According to what Duckett told the press, “He was going to play a massive role in that fourth innings, he’s such a good bowler.”
It’s going to be fascinating to watch how they handle the situation. “They’re going to be pretty worn out by the time it’s over if they keep going crazy with all four of their (fast) bowlers,” he predicted.
Smith expressed his confidence that the Australian team have the necessary resources in the event that Lyon’s injury rendered him unable to do his duties for an extended period of time.
“He may be a significant setback. On the other hand, we have Todd Murphy standing by in the wings. “In the practice sessions, he’s been bowling extremely well,” remarked the coach.
If he were to join us, I have no doubt that he would perform an excellent job for us. But let’s keep our fingers crossed that Nathan will be okay.