NEW DELHI: Australia batter Steve Smith has revealed he was nursing a wounded wrist throughout the second half of the recent Ashes campaign in England after sustaining the injury during the second Test at Lord’s.
Smith has suffered a small tendon tear in his left wrist which requires him to wear a splint for a short period of time and has ruled him out of Australia's upcoming limited-overs tour of South Africa.
Speaking to Fox Cricket, Smith revealed he initially suffered the injury while fielding during the Lord’s Test against England. He underwent wrist treatment, including a cortisone injection, before the fourth Test at Old Trafford.
"I did it at Lord’s. I don’t actually know the moment, it was when we were in the field. It wasn’t until that night I was like, ‘Geez, what have I done here, it’s a bit sore’, " Smith explained.
"I played the next game and then I had a cortisone before Old Trafford. I got back (to Australia) and I was like, ‘Still not quite right. I still can’t do a lot of things properly. I had another scan. There was a small tear in the tendon as well as a couple of other things, " he added.
The 34-year-old finished the Ashes campaign as Australia’s second-highest run-scorer for Australia, accumulating a total of 373 runs at an average of 37.30, including two fifties in the series finale at The Oval.
Smith was slated to open the batting in the upcoming T20 series against South Africa, a role he has never played at international level. The selectors had hoped to give Smith a chance in South Africa with a view to possibly cementing him at the top of the order for the T20 World Cup in the West Indies and USA next year.
"I did speak to (Australian coach) Andrew McDonald about it. He said I’d get more opportunities somewhere to press my case. It’s kind of the dream job. Everyone wants to open the batting in T20s.
"There’s not much accountability there, you just sort of go out there and play. You’ve got two fielders out for the first six overs, and if you get going then you’re already in when the field goes out, so it’s a nice time to bat, " Smith said.
The first T20 between South Africa and Australia gets underway in Durban on August 31.