Smith fails to find place in Mitchell Marsh-led Australia T20 WC squad
Besides Smith, the other notable omissions from the T20 World Cup squad are youngster Jake Fraser-McGurk, experienced seamer Jason Behrendorff and all-rounder Matt Short.
Overall, Smith now has 589 runs in the ongoing series, 262 clear of second-best Ben Stokes.
After scoring a double ton (211 runs) at Old Trafford in the fourth Ashes Test, Australia batsman Steve Smith explained how England may have played into his hands by bowling short.
“I faced a lot of short-pitched bowling and haven’t had too many issues,” Smith said, fresh after scoring his third Test double-century, which guided his side to 497 for 8 declared. “The opposition bowling there means they can’t hit my pad or nick me off. It softens up the ball too and that plays into my hands.”
Overall, Smith now has 589 runs in the ongoing series, 262 clear of second-best Ben Stokes. The classy right-hander was satisfied to be back among the runs, especially because it gives Australia a strong chance to push for victory.
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“It’s satisfying to get a big score. I was disappointed to miss Headingley, but I wasn’t quite right and the right call was made. It gave me time to recover and I felt good. I was confident and have got us into a nice position.”
Early in the day, Archer dropped Smith as the former failed to grab a very tough return catch. But the biggest slice of luck for Smith came when he nicked off to Ben Stokes at first slip on 118, only to find out that Jack Leach had overstepped.
“I had some luck, yeah. You always need some when you score big runs. It fell my way today. I was in a hurry for 20 minutes [after lunch], and after being caught off the no-ball, I switched myself back on. When I saw the foot over the line I thought ‘how good is this? I get to carry on batting’.”
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