Steve Smith has been officially ruled out of the third Ashes Test at Headingley after having not recovered completely from the concussion he suffered after being struck on the neck by a Jofra Archer bouncer at Lord’s last week.
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Smith did accompany the team to the ground for practice on Tuesday (August 20) but didn’t train. He was seen in a private conversation with coach Justin Langer on one side of the pith before doctor Richard Saw had a chat with him. The rest of the team continued to go through their routines when Mark Taylor, former captain turned commentator, joined Smith in the middle when the official confirmation came through from Langer about Smith’s withdrawal.
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At one point it did look like he was being consoled by Langer who had his arm around Smith’s shoulder. Smith then seemed to be in better spirits a while later as he spent around 20 minutes discussing slip catching with former captain Taylor and Usman Khawaja.
You can keep Steve Smith out of a Test but not the nets. He spent nearly 20 minutes passing on batting tips to Usman Khawaja @cricbuzz #ashes pic.twitter.com/RMeAevmpVN
— Bharat Sundaresan (@beastieboy07) 20 August 2019
Smith then ambled towards the nets clearly dejected but was quite involved, spending another 15 minutes or so passing on some tips to Khawaja, who’s had an up and down series so far. Smith’s concussion substitute from the second Test, Marnus Labuschagne, was struck on the helmet again in the nets, this time by teammate Mitchell Starc. Fortunately, Labuschagne was fine after the doctor put him through a concussion test. Labuschagne, who made a match-saving 59 as Smith’s substitute at Lord’s, is most likely to replace the former Australia captain in the playing XI in Leeds.
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Smith, the leading run-getter in the series so far (378 runs from 3 innings) had initially retained hope of playing at Headingley. He had retired hurt on 80 after being felled by that bouncer, but returned to continue his innings upon medical clearance, falling eight short of a third consecutive century in the series.
His concussion symptoms, however, showed up on the fifth morning of the Lord’s Test, a day after the incident, and put paid to the little chances of him making a full recovery in the short turnaround between the two Tests.
