Wellington: Steve Smith has called for umpires to be given greater power to call wides for repeated short balls down the leg side with a field for the hook shot, similar to the way negative bowling by spinners is targeted by officials.
On the day Smith’s tormentor Neil Wagner retired from international cricket, denied the chance for a final bout with Australia, the Australian batting star and former captain aired his view that the persistent bowling of bouncers to a leg side field should be addressed.
Steve Smith hooks a short ball at Lord’s in 2023.Credit: Getty
Smith confirmed to this masthead he is likely to play for Ricky Ponting’s Washington Freedom in the US Major League Cricket Twenty20 competition later this year. He also revealed that his unbeaten 91 against the West Indies at the Gabba was fuelled by a mindset change – walking out to bat thinking the scoreboard said 2-0 rather than 0-0 as an opener.
Short-pitched bowling was a talking point among players on both sides during the Lord’s Ashes Test last year, when a moribund surface forced the use of the tactic to search for wickets – indirectly leading to the now infamous stumping of Johnny Bairstow.
For Smith, the tactic has been a large part of his lot since the 2019 Ashes, as Wagner and others sought to stop his scoring or force a dismissal via a hook shot to one of numerous fielders posted in the only available scoring zone. It has been likened to the “bodyline” tactics famously used by England in 1932-33.
“I think there could be some slight rule changes in terms of balls going down the leg side when you set that field,” Smith said. “You really can’t hit the ball anywhere in front of the wicket really, and I feel like it is almost like when a [left-arm] spinner comes over the wicket and they get the warning down the leg side and then they start getting wided.
“If you’re bowling balls consistently in that area down leg, it should be a similar ruling to the spinner if that makes sense. Basically bowl one or two, then get a warning and then get wides called.
“To have those catchers there in position, it can be challenging for sure. The only thing I’d like to see is if you get too much down leg, you can’t really score anywhere else, and all the fielders are there. That would be the only change I wouldn’t mind seeing.”
During the Lord’s Test, former England captain Andrew Strauss described the tactics as effective, but “tedious” for spectators.
“I don’t like watching it. I find it somewhat tedious. A bit predictable,” Strauss said on Sky commentary. “You know where the ball is going to be before he bowls the ball, where the fielders are. You are just seeing what the batsman is going to do. It’s a bit two-dimensional to me.”
Steve Smith hooks Jofra Archer at Lord’s in 2019. Credit: AP
Nevertheless, Smith paid tribute to Wagner as a skilful and worthy opponent down the years, noting that he was accurate enough to avoid being called for.
“Ultimately it is a good skill what Neil’s been able to do, the way he can get the ball between throat and chest height consistently, not bowl his two [bouncers] for the over and just carry on doing it,” Smith said. “It’s a good skill and it can be challenging, particularly for guys that are pullers of the ball.”
Smith, who is on the fringes of the squad for the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean in June, said he was all but certain to link up with Washington’s new coach Ponting at the Freedom, as he and wife Danni carry out renovations on their New York apartment.
“Taking cricket to America for the first time and having a real crack at that market, I think it’s really good and it is a great time for it to happen. So I’d like to be involved in it and help it grow,” Smith said.
“My wife’s over there now, she’s at our apartment finishing our renovations, so I’ll get the chance to get over there after India [doing studio commentary on the IPL], so looking forward to that.”
As for the Gabba innings and the duel with Shamar Joseph, Smith said that he had returned to an old mind trick, placing extra pressure on himself in order to be as sharp as possible for the battle.
“In the second innings I decided that I was going to have my mind switched on for being 2-0 when we’re 0-0, just pretend we’re 2-0 when I walk out to bat and just play the game from there,” he said.
“I do like putting pressure on myself and I think sometimes as an opener you haven’t lost any wickets yet, so you don’t feel that kind of pressure, whereas if I was batting at four and I go in at 2-0, there’s that pressure and that’s something I thrive on. So it’s almost manipulating that, to put that pressure on myself initially to get myself up and sharper and in the battle I suppose. That’s the main reason for that mindset.
“That’s the way I play my best when I’m looking to score, definitely, and I just feel when I put pressure on myself I just get a bit sharper in my movement. A bit more eccentric in my movements, my calling, it just gets me going a bit more. I try to find ways at stages to put more pressure on myself so I can get into that mindset.”
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