Cape Town: Australiaโs coach Andrew McDonald presaged this match by speaking about how Steve Smithโs remarkable Test career would deserve prolonged celebration whenever he retired.
But there was no sense of celebration among Pat Cumminsโ team about how abruptly Smith withdrew himself from the team for its return to Newlands for the first time since the 2018 ball-tampering scandal. The episode will hasten discussions about how much longer the 37-year-old has left in the baggy green cap.
Mitchell Starc stuck pointedly to matter-of-fact words about Smithโs neck niggle after the game, while a selection of furrowed brows and raised eyebrows from others made it clear that the series of events this week and on match morning had not gone down particularly well.
โDidnโt know anything about it until well, I sort of knew something was going on yesterday when I was trying to get my laundry at the hotel and I couldnโt get in the room,โ Starc said. โBut I didnโt know he wasnโt playing until I went out to warm up today.
โHeโs obviously been battling that neck since last week. I think I donโt actually know what happened with that, and I havenโt asked. He seems upbeat enough, but I donโt know what treatment or what heโs had done with it so far.โ
Click here to read the story.
About the Author
