Steve Smith’s ‘new’ technique more a return to the classical style

He is bringing the bat down a straighter line and accessing different parts of the field. ‘New’ technique? It’s more like Classic Coca-Cola, where the most radical innovation imaginable was to go back to the basic formula.

Smith had appeared more comfortable in the recent 50-over matches with England, and in the Test arena in Perth he looked happier still.

He had everything in his favour: a batting strip made to order, a sound platform set up by Labuschagne and Usman Khawaja (who obligingly got out before tea), and a bowling attack that was as honest as a school librarian and slightly less dangerous.

The West Indies tried some of the tricks other teams had used to block Smith’s exits in the past two years, but this time he was ahead of them. Having spent two years out-thinking himself, he is now back to out-thinking opponents.

Smith’s technical adjustment more likely reflects a mental change than being a solution in itself. Seen through a long lens, Smith’s career has been some story. He was building a name as Australia’s best since Bradman before his year of disgrace in 2018. He came back in England with performances, under crushing pressure, that really were Bradman-like.

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The ensuing emotional let-down was long and slow, mirrored by Labuschagne’s rise. The internal journey bottomed out with Smith watching last month’s T20 World Cup from the bunker.

This no doubt caused humiliation and self-examination that was not visible from the outside. The crisis was inner, and the resolution had to be interior as well. By changing something as fundamental as his footwork, Smith looks like he has given his mind a productive focus.

Both of these master craftsmen were at their best in Perth. The West Indies bowlers pitched the ball a little short, but this is always so in Perth, where the bounce leaves no margin for error between too short and too full. When the West Indians bowled full enough to hit the stumps, Labuschagne and Smith punched them down the ground.

With Labuschagne, this has become customary. Smith, meanwhile, has rediscovered all the old places where bowlers cannot put the ball.

Whether this is a turning of the corner, and Smith is about to resume the scale of achievement of his earlier career, lies ahead of us. This Test match is the beginning of a very long road that winds through Australia, India, and back to England.

If this is a new start, Smith has left himself plenty of time to travel back to his old ways.

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