Steve Smith’s dressing room blow up has been revealed as the Aussie Test team continues to reel following its collapse in the Second Test.
Senior cricket figures, including coach Andrew McDonald, have had Aussie cricket greats venting their frustrations in recent days with officials somehow continuing to declare the team did not get its preparation wrong for the series.
Watch every game of every round of the 2023 NRL Telstra Premiership Season LIVE on Kayo Sports. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >
The wheels fell off the Aussie team in the aftermath of the Second Test humiliation with selectors under fire for a series of blunders and backflips before Pat Cummins, David Warner and Josh Hazlewood all flew home.
McDonald and now batting coach Michael Di Venuto are continuing to defy the outcry and are adamant the team has got it right in its moves off the field.
When speaking to reporters on Tuesday night, Di Venuto revealed there were ugly moments in the Aussie dressing room as the 90-minutes of madness unfolded in Delhi — ending with Australia losing 8/28 at the end of its second innings.
The veteran mentor said it was like watching a “car crash in slow motion” as Australian players lost their heads and rolled the dice with disastrous sweep attempts.
He remains adamant the team did not have a pre-meditated plan to combat the spinning wicket with sweep strokes — and suggested the dismissal of Smith should have been enough for Aussie players to learn from the master batter’s mistake.
Smith triggered the collapse when he was brought undone by Ravi Ashwin while attempting his first sweep of the entire series — and he let his emotions rage as he returned to the dressing room full of anger towards himself.
“He was certainly disappointed when he got out and he made it known that it was a poor shot in the dressing room,” Di Venuto said.
“I think most people would have heard that, they should have had a fair idea of what not to do. It was just one of those moments in the game when you’re under pressure from world class bowlers, things happen sometimes, it’s unusual for him.”
He said he had not spoken to Smith about his post-innings display of anger but said it is obvious Smith would be “frustrated” that he has not been able to make a meaningful impact in the first two Tests.
Smith’s outburst says it all.
“It was a like a car crash in slow motion isn’t it,” he said of the collapse.
“I wish there was and generally it happens and it’s already happened and it’s like what has just happened there. You guys saw exactly what we saw. It’s just constant panic and people moving everywhere.
“You lose a wicket you never want to go bang bang and lose two. And in this country it’s easy to get knocked over early and then it’s just matter about trying to get that next partnership and calming the waters a little bit. The other day we lost four wickets on 95. Something like that. It just kept on happening.”
His suggestion that there was no plan for players to use the sweep shows what a rabble the Aussie XI was in the second innings.
“Plans certainly weren’t wrong, our plans were good, but if people go away from their plans they get in trouble as we saw. I think if we look back at the position we were in at 2-85 executing our plans very well in that second innings and ahead of the game and the wheels fell off after that,” he said.
“Guys under pressure moved away from their plans of what worked and you pay the consequence in this country.
“Batting is pretty similar analogy I think, you’ve got to swim between the flags in this country, if you go outside the flags and your game plan you are going to get in trouble.
“It was frenetic, it was panic, you saw exactly what we saw on the balcony.
“It was a procession of players going out and getting out. It is an easy place to get out early here. We are talking about two world class bowlers in their home conditions, you’ve really got to trust your defence, have good attacking shots but smart ones. We didn’t see too much of that in second innings.
“It’s frustrating because you know the work the coaches and players put in to get ready, they’ve worked exceptionally hard since we got over here and before. As we’ve seen the guys that got in looked as good as anyone.”
His comments echo McDonald’s surprising comments on Monday where the new mentor said he “wouldn’t have changed” the lead-up.
Cricket Australia high-performance manager Ben Oliver on Tuesday also denied the failure to have a tour match before the start of the series in India was a mistake, according to The Age.
The tourists did not play a single warm-up match prior to the first Test in Nagpur and cricket officials have been slammed for having players compete in the BBL in the days before flying out to India.
