Steve Smith is looking forward to the final of the World Test Championship (WTC) against South Africa. Australia already was a veteran team when it won the 2023 final by crushing India by 209 runs at the Oval. Ten of that 11 are back. Only David Warner is missing, retired from tests.
Medium-pace bowler Josh Hazlewood was injured and didn’t play, but he’s expected to replace one of the 2023 stars, Scott Boland. Hazlewood overcame a shoulder injury to spearhead Royal Challengers Bengaluru to a first Indian Premier League title last week with 22 wickets in 12 innings.
Warner’s permanent replacement at opener still hasn’t been settled. Sam Konstas made an audacious debut at age 19 in December against India, but Travis Head was preferred in Sri Lanka in February. They seem to be the main candidates.
Marnus Labuschagne has opened only once since 2016, and his form has dropped to the point of concern. He averaged just 28.33 in the WTC cycle and attempts last month to spark form at Glamorgan in the second tier of the English County Championship fell flat.
In the same division, allrounder Cameron Green scored three hundreds for Gloucestershire in a comeback from lower spine surgery which sidelined him for six months. But he’s not ready to bowl.
It may not matter. Australia has four of its top 10 all-time leading wicket-takers in Nathan Lyon (553, third), Mitchell Starc (382, fourth), captain Pat Cummins (294, eighth), and Hazlewood (279, 10th).
Star batter Steve Smith turned 36 last week and hasn’t played in the top flight since March, just like Konstas, opener Usman Khawaja, Lyon, Boland, and wicketkeeper Alex Carey. But they’re entrusted with the knowhow to switch on when it counts.
Smith has four hundreds in his last five tests, and passed 10,000 career runs, almost as many as the South Africans. At Lord’s he averages 58.
“At Lord’s, there’s always sort of something going on,” he said on Monday. “There’s always something going off for the bowlers, particularly if the clouds roll in. And then when the clouds are out, it can be really nice to bat. It’s a cool game playing here in England. I enjoy the sort of intricacies of what you need to do at certain periods. Whether you need to tighten things up or get a bit more aggressive. It should be a fun week.”