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Steve Smith is being left behind by cricket’s elite. This is how he can return to the top - Fox Sports

Steve Smith is being left behind by cricket’s elite. This is how he can return to the top - Fox Sports

Steve Smith is being left behind by cricket’s elite. This is how he can return to the top - Fox Sports
Jun 29, 2022 2 mins, 37 secs

“I probably had three opportunities to get hundreds in Pakistan, I just didn’t quite convert them,” Smith told Cricket.com.au’s The Unplayable Podcast.

He still remains the prized wicket in Australia’s XI, and yet the former captain has only scored one century since the 2019 Ashes, or in his past 17 Tests.

Given he has scored just one century, which often inflates one’s average, it goes to show Smith has been contributing regularly.

“But I was also batting at stages where the ball was reversing quite big and I know as a batter coming in next, it’s probably the toughest thing to face – a reversing ball on those kinds of wickets against some good bowlers in (Shaheen) Afridi and Hasan Ali.

“So it’s playing the game and being patient and playing the tempo, which we spoke a lot about in Pakistan; against the new ball you can play a few more shots, like I did in the third Test when I got in a little bit earlier, and got some boundaries away early.

While the 2023 Ashes is still one year away, Smith’s return to his 2019-Ashes form is essential because he is the only Australian to have scored centuries in England.

It’s often been said that with every ball you’re closer to having a delivery with your name on it.

Yet, in Pakistan, Smith tried to play positively.

One factor that could explain the drop in output could be the arrival of Marnus Labuschagne, whose arrival during the 2019 Ashes saw him catapult up the Test standings so much so that he went to Pakistan as the world’s No.1 Test batter.

“Of course, I’d love to be scoring more hundreds, but I’ve still been batting some good time … (opponents) have bowled differently and a bit more defensive at stages, but you’ve still got to just play the game and adapt to whatever they’re coming at, which I don’t think I’ve done poorly, but maybe (I need to be) just finding some more ways to get off strike or get a boundary away to change what they’re thinking and where they’re bowling

“As I alluded to, I can potentially put a bit more pressure back on the bowler at stages – I’ve probably been a little bit defensive at times

And whilst I’ve spent a lot of time in the middle in a lot of the games, my strike-rate’s probably not as high.”

“I probably am batting less at the moment than I have before, just with my elbow and trying to ensure that it doesn’t get to the place where it got to previously, which is hard for someone like me,” Smith said

“I just love batting and getting big volume and that’s how I kind of get in the rhythm, so it is a bit different, but I’ve got to strike the right balance to ensure that I’m giving myself every chance to play as many games as possible.”

In his most recent Test in Sri Lanka in 2016, Smith scored a first-innings century

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