Steve Smith’s Second Chance

As the first test in the 2019 Ashes series drew to a close yesterday, with Australia upsetting England at Edgbaston, there were some notable performances to look back on. However, whether it was Nathan Lyon’s spell with the ball on day 5 or Rory Burns’ maiden Test hundred, all were overshadowed by one man’s individual performance.

As Australia found themselves floundering on 122 for 8 in their first innings, they desperately needed a performance from one of their 3 remaining batsmen if they were to have any chance of getting a result out of this Test. Step forward Steven Peter Devereux Smith.

Smith’s sublime 144 runs in the first innings almost single-handedly dragged Australia back into the Test, offering a clinic in technique, patience, and desire. He then proceeded to back this performance up with an equally superb 142 runs in Australia’s second innings, making him only the fifth ever Australian batsman to score a ton in both innings of an Ashes match.

However, Smith’s ability with the bat was never in doubt. Before this Test, he was Australia’s 14^th highest run scorer in Test match history, averaging 52.98 runs, and with 23 Test hundreds to his name.

The real reason Smith’s efforts with the bat in this first Test were so impressive, can be attributed to his mental resilience.

Test cricket is, in essence, an examination of a player’s patience, decision making, and concentration. It is as much a test of the mind as it is of skill. So when we take into account what Smith had gone through over the course of the past 18 months, his performance in this Test was nothing short of phenomenal.

On the 24^th of March in 2018, during the 3^rd Test between South Africa and Australia, Australia’s Cameron Bancroft was caught by TV cameras using sandpaper to rough up one side of the ball in an attempt to generate extra swing during its flight, something that is highly illegal within the parameter of cricket.

It was discovered shortly afterwards that members of the Australian ‘leadership group’, namely captain Steve Smith and vice-captain David Warner, were involved in the scandal.

The footage of the event makes for difficult viewing. It is so blatantly obvious what Bancroft was doing. Millions of people around the world saw it in real time, and you can almost imagine these fans across the world, sitting on the edge of their seats, wide eyed in disbelief.

Following an investigation into the incident by Cricket Australia a few days later, it was discovered that it was Warner who had conceived the plan and instructed Bancroft how to carry it out, going as far as to give him a demonstration of how to tamper with the ball. Smith was found to have prior knowledge of the plan, and was sentenced with Warner to a 12 month suspension from international and domestic cricket, whilst Bancroft was dealt a 9 month sentence.

So flash forward over a year later, to the 1^st of August, 2019, as Steve Smith walks out to the middle of Edgbaston in the first innings of the first Test of The Ashes.

For most of these players, this Test is significant as it is the first of the Ashes series. For Smith, it is much, much more. It marks his return to the Australian Test side since his ban.

Unsurprisingly, he, like Warner and Bancroft before him, is greeted by a cacophony of boos. Some of the English Barmy Army have donned masks of the former captain in tears, others are waving sandpaper in the air suggestively. Smith had entered the lion’s den.

But he was impenetrable, and he was fantastic. Smith had heard the boos. Of course he had. But, for whom they were for, he simply didn’t care. He had waited over a year for this moment, and he would make damn sure he seized it.

As he removed his helmet and raised his bat over five and a half hours later, he had defeated his demons. He had conquered himself as much as he had conquered England’s bowling attack. The relief and emotion that Smith experienced in this moment was clearly apparent on his face.

Once more, he was greeted by a chorus of boos. This time however, the Barmy Army were booing on their feet whilst clapping their hands. They had witnessed one of the game’s greats deliver a performance like no other.

Smith continued this batting exhibition into Australia’s second innings, as he posted 142, propelling Australia to an unlikely position of ascendancy at a ground many pundits and fans regarded as a ‘fortress’ of English cricket. His performance earned him the Player of the Match award, his closest opposition to the accolade probably being his compatriot, Nathan Lyon.

His brilliance, his skill, and his strength of mind throughout the match amounted to Smith’s redemption for the likes of Nasser Hussain and Shane Warne. He had served his ban, and he had come back to reignite Australian cricket under the most critical of microscopes; Ashes cricket.

But had Smith redeemed himself? I’m not so sure. For me, Smith, Warner, and Bancroft will never redeem themselves. Their careers are marked by an asterisk forever more. Not, as is most common in cricket, to suggest they are ‘not out’, but more as a reminder that they were caught – for lack of a better word – cheating.

The Barmy Army won’t forget Smith’s ‘mistake’ for the rest of this series, and indeed, very few cricket fans will forget it as long as they continue to play – such was the scale of this scandal.

In a world that has seen Lance Armstrong stripped of 7 Tour de France medals, the Russian state systematically doping their athletes, and Maradona’s Hand of God, you could argue that what Smith and co carried out is relatively inconspicuous. However, cricket is renowned worldwide for being ‘a gentleman’s game’. It prides itself on its rules, etiquette, and tradition. So for some of the sport’s biggest names to be caught trying to obtain an illegal advantage, it is going to send major shockwaves throughout the sporting world.

As a fan of cricket, and as a fan of Steve Smith, I was so disappointed when this scandal was brought to light. It reminded me of the age old adage that you should never meet your heroes, because they’ll always disappoint you.

I felt let down. It made me sceptical and cynical about a game I had loved for years. I’m not naïve however. I understand that at a higher, administrative level of cricket, corruption is rife (as is explored in the great documentary, The Death of a Gentleman). But I was hopeful. I had faith that the game was played fairly and justly by the players. Maybe I am naïve after all…

A degree of my hopefulness was restored thankfully, as I watched the interviews following the scandal, in which Warner and Smith display great emotion and sadness. The impression I got from the interviews was that Warner was disappointed and upset, not because of what he did, but because he was caught.

Smith however, gave me the feeling that he genuinely regretted what he did. Yes, he let his team and his country down, but the emotion he showed as he gave his interview suggests more to me, that he knows he had let himself down. He appeared fallible and human. He had made a mistake, something we could all relate to.

And, as sad as I am that Smith tarnished his name in the way he did, I am so glad that he has been allowed to return to the game that he loves. Why? Because I love it too, and I love watching him bat. His unorthodox style, his idiosyncratic routine before each ball, his determination, his composure, his patience and his aggression. He is one of the greatest batsmen ever to pick up a cricket bat, and to me, it would be a great shame if the game of cricket were to turn its back on him as a result of one, silly mistake.

Welcome back, Steve.