Steve Smith, Australia cricket captain, relishing break after suffering from mental fatigue | Cricket - Hindustan Times
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Steve Smith, Australia cricket captain, relishing break after suffering from mental fatigue

Hindustan Times, Mumbai | By
Feb 15, 2018 01:26 PM IST

Steve Smith, who scored 687 runs at an average of 137.5 in Australia cricket team’s 4-0 Ashes win, admitted he was mentally exhausted during the ODI series against England, which the hosts lost 4-1.

Steve Smith, Australia cricket team captain, has admitted to have feeling mentally fatigued after the end of Ashes campaign.

Steve Smith, Australia cricket captain, capped off a golden 12 months by winning his second Allan Border Medal in Melbourne earlier this week.(Getty Images)
Steve Smith, Australia cricket captain, capped off a golden 12 months by winning his second Allan Border Medal in Melbourne earlier this week.(Getty Images)

Smith, who is currently on a break from international cricket, said that he needed this respite badly following a gruelling 12-month period that saw him leading Australian team to tough tours of India and Bangladesh besides taking on arch-rivals England in the five-match Ashes series at home.

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(Read | Steve Smith to marry girlfriend Dani Willis in September)

The 28-year-old, though, said he didn’t realise the extent of his exhaustion until he was rested following Australia’s 4-1 defeat to England in ODIs last month.

Australia are currently involved in a T20 tri-nation series featuring New Zealand and England with Smith’s deputy David Warner leading the side in his absence.

(Read | Steve Smith voted Australian cricket’s Test Player of Year, David Warner best in ODIs)

“It’s hard to admit it when you’re playing because you don’t want to tell yourself these kind of things, but I was really tired at the back end of those one-dayers,” Smith said after receiving his second Allan Border Medal for being Australia’s best male cricketer across all formats in Melbourne.

“The way I was batting and where my mind was at a couple of weeks earlier, it was in a completely different place and a place that I didn’t entirely enjoy to be perfectly honest, he said while speaking to cricket.com.au.

(Read | Steve Smith forecasts South Africa barrage for Australia batsmen)

With Australia set to tour South Africa next, Smith believes the ongoing respite has done him a world of good and he is now ready to take to the cricket field.

“These last couple of weeks have been really good, just being able to refresh. I actually want to pick up a bat now – I’m going to have a hit tomorrow night and I’m actually excited about getting back into it,” he said.

(Read | Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka: Mirpur pitch rated ‘below average’ by ICC)

RANCHI DRAW SPECIAL

Smith, who finished 2017 as the year’s highest run getter in Tests, chose Australia’s drawn Test against India in Ranchi last year as one of the two results that gave him most satisfaction during the past season.

“The two Test matches that stand out most for me (over the past year) were Ranchi, where we were able to block out a draw for a day and keep ourselves in the series at one-all going into the final Test match.

“And then Melbourne (on a lifeless pitch against England in late December), the same thing.

“You always want to play to win but sometimes it’s just not possible, and showing the fight and the determination to get through those moments and show resilience and adapt to different conditions, that’s what we’re all about,” he said.

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