Smith hopeful of SCG hosting third Test

Personally I'd love Sydney to happen, I love playing at the SCG (Sydney Cricket Ground), it's my home ground, said Smith

Sydney: Talismanic Australia batsman Steve Smith said Tuesday he would love Sydney to host the new year Test against India as planned, despite the city currently battling a coronavirus outbreak.

“Personally I’d love Sydney to happen, I love playing at the SCG (Sydney Cricket Ground), it’s my home ground,” Smith said. Australia’s largest city has been virtually sealed off from the largely virus-free rest of the country after a cluster of coronavirus cases were uncovered, raising serious doubts about the third Test which is scheduled to start on January 7.

“I think everyone’s preference here would be to play in Sydney, but we will always be guided by experts,” Smith said.

If the Sydney clash goes ahead, the players could have problems travelling to Brisbane for the final Test a week later after Queensland effectively closed its border to Sydney. The second Test starts in Melbourne on Boxing Day and back-to-back Tests there could be an option.

Otherwise, they could return to Adelaide, where Australia won the opening Test by eight wickets on Saturday, or host two in a row in Brisbane. Australia are currently leading the Test series 1-0, after an Indian second-innings batting collapse in Adelaide. Smith said that victory rested on one of the best performances he had seen from a group of Australian pace bowlers.

“I played a lot of cricket with all three of those fast bowlers and I reckon the length they bowled consistently was as good as I’ve seen,” he said. “The lengths they were hitting were just impeccable.”

He praised Virat Kohli’s batting in the first innings of the first Test at the Adelaide Oval, adding that the Indian skipper’s absence would be a big loss for the visitors in the remaining three Tests of the ongoing series.

“Look, obviously, it is a big loss for him and India, not having him for the rest of the series. You just have to look at the way he played in the first innings. That was a pretty class display against some good bowling. I know the wicket was doing a bit,” said Smith.

Smith, however, said that Kohli needs to be commended for his decision to attend the birth of his first child.  “I am saying it now and have said it before, credit to him for being able to stand (up) and want to go home and be there for the birth of his first child and get to milestone that you don’t want to miss. I am sure there would have been a lot of pressure on him to stay back but just to stand up and want to go home. I think credit to him,” added Smith.

Smith further said he did not play Ravichandran Ashwin well in the first Test at the Adelaide Oval and is looking forward to counter the India off-spinner in the Boxing Day fixture at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Ashwin got Smith caught at slip for just one in the first innings with a delivery that did not turn. Smith said it was his mistake against what he thinks was decent bowling. “He (Ashwin) is a good bowler, he has played a lot of cricket. He is a world class performer. Unfortunately, he got the better of me the other day, I will hopefully learn something from that and move forward and play him in the next game…I just nicked one that didn’t spin. Unfortunately, that happens sometimes and I thought it was pretty well bowled. The two balls prior to that spun a bit and got grip off the wicket. The next one was more of a sidespin and just skidded on. I didn’t play as well as I could. That was just decent bowling.”

`Chappell has outlandish statement’

Australia batsman Steve Smith has termed former captain Ian Chappell’s comments advocating protection of tailenders from short-pitched deliveries as “outlandish”, saying short balls are a part of the game.

Chappell, one of the finest experts of the game, rejected banning bouncers altogether but had talked about strengthening laws regarding the protection of lower-order batsmen in the light of a series of blows to head and concussion-related incidents. But Smith does not agree with the suggestion.

“It seems like Ian Chappell has an outlandish statement after every match at the moment,” Smith told ‘SEN Mornings’. “From my point of view, short balls are part of the game. We’ve seen over the years there’s been some really good battles and I don’t think it should be outlawed at all.”

Smith insisted he has no issue with the quicks bowling short to lower order batsmen.
“Yep, no dramas from me,” he added.

The run-up to the Test series between India and Australia was marred by a series of blows to head and concussion-related substitutes, reviving the debate around the use of bouncers by fast bowlers.

While rejecting a complete ban, Chappell had said that time was ripe for a worldwide review into on-field safety and strengthen laws regarding the protection of tailenders in facing short-pitched bowling.

Chappell, a former Australia captain, had earlier suggested switch-hitting, a skill that some of the Australians played well, was an “unfair” tactic.