From Australia’s lead spinner and No. 8, Steven Smith has steadily risen up the batting ranks to become one of the central figures in their line-up, and arguably their most comfortable player of spin
Brydon Coverdale in Abu Dhabi29-Oct-2014There are not many people in Australian cricket who benefited from the homework saga in India last year. Steven Smith, though, is one. When Australia’s 17-man squad for that tour was named, Smith seemed the 17th-most likely to play any role. Usman Khawaja was first back-up batsman and was set to be included for the Mohali Test. Then Khawaja forgot to do his homework, Smith took his place, and he has never looked back.In fact, Smith is the only person to have played all 16 of Australia’s Tests since that moment. Only David Warner has scored more runs and hundreds for Australia since then, than Smith’s 1179 runs at 43.66 and four centuries. Who would have thought that when Smith made his Test debut against Pakistan four years ago as a legspinner and fidgety No. 8 slogger he would next meet them as arguably Australia’s most in-form batsman?In the conditions Australia are currently faced with against Pakistan in the UAE, Smith’s deft footwork and thoughtful approach to handling spinners makes him one of the most important members of the side. Where some of his team-mates cling to the crease like a toddler does the side of the pool when learning to swim, Smith wades out into the danger zone without the slightest apprehension.It looks so natural, and to some degree it is. There was no master coach who instilled the magical footwork in Smith, nor a mentor who explained how to tame the turning ball. Smith is what he is because he devoured cricket as a child and teenager, watched whatever matches were on television, regardless of who was playing. And it all seeped in to a brain that seemed wired for cricket, not for school.”No one has really taught me to play spin,” Smith told ESPNcricinfo. “I just watched a lot of cricket. You get out and you find different ways to improve. Everyone is different in the way they approach it. Some sweep, some run down the wicket, some get deep and play off the back foot. I like to do a bit of each if the moment suits.”I think it’s about trying to dictate the bowler’s terms. A lot of the best spinners in the world, if you just let them settle and get into their spell and do their bit, they’re tough to get a hold of and they’ve always got a little something over you. For me it’s about trying to attack them and get them off their lengths and the way they’re trying to get me out, and trying to get a lot of runs at the same time.”It all sounds so straightforward. There must be a certain bravery to it, to dancing down the pitch at a spinner from your first ball at the crease, as Smith did in both innings in Dubai. He insists not, that, in fact, that is the safe option. Stay back and the spinner can dictate; venture out and you’re the one in control.Perhaps he finds it easier because he knows how they feel. If that is the case, though, it must be subconscious, for despite his first incarnation as a Test bowler he has never really considered himself one. His call-up against Pakistan in 2010 was not the first time Andrew Hilditch’s selection panel had foisted a batsman on Ricky Ponting as lead spinner; Cameron White was used in the same way two years earlier.”I’ve never really seen myself as a spinner as such,” Smith said. “I’ve always seen myself as more of a batsman. I’m open to admit I wasn’t ready to play Test cricket at that point in time. To play as a spinner was very interesting to me. I wasn’t even the first spinner in our New South Wales side at the time. It’s an experience that I’ll never forget, but I’ve always seen myself as more of a batsman.”I learnt a lot about it and what I needed to do to improve and be successful at this level. I went away and scored some runs and changed some things technically and mentally, and I think it’s made me a much better player, and when I got that opportunity to play again I guess I’ve taken it.”
Where some of his team-mates cling to the crease like a toddler does the side of the pool when learning to swim, Smith wades out into the danger zone without the slightest apprehension
That he has. Of course, Smith still gets used occasionally by Michael Clarke when he’s struggling to break a partnership. Throw the ball to the part-time leggie and see what happens: a long hop, a full toss, a perfect legbreak – an over from Smith might contain them all, and any one of them could be the wicket-taker as the batsman’s eyes light up. In Dubai, he had Misbah-ul-Haq caught at deep mid-on.It is not surprising that you get as much variety in Smith’s overs as in a party pack of Smith’s chips. Legspin is arguably the toughest art in cricket, and for the past few years Smith has barely been keeping up his practice. But now that his batting has reached a point at which he is satisfied, Australian fans can expect to see more and more of Smith at the bowling crease.”I put it on the back foot for a little bit,” Smith said of his bowling. “I’ve started up again now that I’m at a position where my batting is where I want it to be. I wanted to focus on that for a couple of years and make sure I got that right. Now that I’ve got that, I have started bowling a lot more in the nets. I’ve been bowling every session that we’ve had at training, and trying to work on a bit of consistency.”It didn’t quite work out in the first game. It was probably four long hops an over, or fullies. Got the wicket though. It’s about getting a bit of match practice in. You can bowl as much as you want in the nets, but when you get out in the middle it’s completely different. If I’m able to get back and play some games for New South Wales or grade cricket, it would be nice to get a good spell of bowling in and keep working on my consistency.”The consistency is certainly there with his batting. And not just with his run-scoring. What is hard for observers to reconcile to is Smith’s proven concentration as a Test batsman with his incessant fidgeting between deliveries. It’s like a series of tics, and Smith believes there is something to the theory that he does it more when nervous. He does it a lot even when not.Asked if he is conscious of precisely what he taps in what order, Smith looks a little confused. Then he puts himself in the mindset of being at the crease and tries to run through his routine. Helmet, left pad, box, right pad. Or is it helmet, glove, left pad? Or helmet, thigh pad, box? Smith doesn’t really know, but he does know he has always been twitchy.”I think I’ve basically got an order now where I kind of know what I do, but I don’t, if you know what I mean,” Smith said. “I know I’ve got both pads, touch my box, make sure everything’s there. Then pads. I’ve always fidgeted. I always used to touch my helmet as well. I remember in Under-19s the boys counted me for an over and I touched my helmet 800 times or something like that.”That number sounds implausible, but he insists it really was that many. Perhaps the boys were winding him up. Those were the days when Smith was trying to make good on his decision to quit school and focus on the sport that had played such a dominant role in his life from childhood. He would go to the park after school every day with his father, Peter, who would bowl him balls in the nets.”He used to work from home, so I’d come home from school and go straight to the nets, half hour or hour and have a good hit,” Smith said. “I used to watch any cricket game that was on the telly and try and go out and bat like a certain player or bowl like a certain player. I had my moments of trying to bat like Mark Waugh. I couldn’t quite do the feet close together kind of thing that he did, or the swing that he had, but you learn a lot from watching players on TV.”It wasn’t just Waugh who Smith fancied; on his bedroom wall was a picture of Brian Lara. Neither of those idols ever had to contend with being considered a Test No. 8 as Smith did during his debut series. Now settled at No. 5 in Australia’s side, there even seems the possibility that he will at some stage be promoted to No. 3, a position that has caused Australia headaches since Ricky Ponting went past his peak.For the time being, the Australians are taking it easy with Smith and allowing him to develop at his own pace. Still, he is viewed as a candidate – perhaps the leading one – for the Australian captaincy whenever Michael Clarke retires. Smith has done the job admirably for New South Wales but is not being groomed in the same way Clarke was under Ponting; when Clarke and vice-captain Brad Haddin were both off the field during the recent tour match in Sharjah, Chris Rogers was in charge.”I’ve really enjoyed my opportunities that I’ve had to captain New South Wales and the [Sydney] Sixers,” Smith said. “It was nice to win a couple of those tournaments as well. The toughest part of the job is managing all the players around you. The on-field stuff, setting fields, changing bowlers, that’s the easy part. It’s making sure all your players are on the same page.”On that front, Smith must be a captain’s dream; no Warner-like controversies for him. He is just a cricket nut who works things out for himself. And, to his great benefit, does his homework.