Steve Smith has explained his reasons for delaying the start of his cricketing summer ahead of Ashes to his fears of mental fatigue. Smith has not played a professional game since August in The Hundred tournament in UK. Smith only plays Test cricket these days, having retired from white-ball cricket.
“I certainly get drained mentally quicker than I probably used to. Ten years ago I loved to come back and play every single game that I could. Now obviously my Test cricket has taken a huge priority,” Smith said. “I know that when I play a lot at the start, by the end of the summer I’m pretty cooked mentally and probably can’t produce the same performances. Last year I was probably batting my best at the back end of the summer against India, coming off not too much cricket at the start,” he added.
On Tuesday, he faced the the bowlers for the first time in a net session, though he said he has been working on his fitness in the off time.
I’ve been training quite hard. I’ve been doing a lot of lifting, trying to get a bit stronger. I did all my strength tests yesterday and they’re as good as they’ve ever been. I feel like I’m ready for a big summer.” Smith is set to play two Sheffield Shield matches before the first Test against England.
“”Honestly, it takes me two hits to get sorted. I feel like I’m ready to go now. There’s obviously a balance, but I don’t think it takes me much now to get up to game speed and I want to try and stay as mentally fresh. Technically I feel in a good place, it’s about being mentally fresh. I’m not hitting as many balls as I used to. It’s to try and get the most out of myself mentally when I’m out in the middle and be able to concentrate for long periods of time. It’s interesting how the brain works. I feel like I kind of go to another level and try to set a standard, I suppose,” he added.
Smith also took time out to praise Marnus Labuschagne for his efforts to get back into the Test team by scoring runs. Labuschagne was dropped from the West Indies Tests earlier this year, but has been among the runs in domestic cricket.
“He said to me at the start of the summer, ‘I’ll be in that Test team, come the first Test’. He’s backed up his words,” Smith said. “I sent him a message a couple of days ago, saying how proud I was of him. He’s obviously got dropped from the team and he’s just gone back and he’s got four hundreds in (six) hits. That’s a pretty big statement. He’s obviously not selected yet, but he’s done a lot of things right,” Smith said.
