With batting under scrutiny, Steve Smith returns to scene of his darkest chapter at Newlands

Australia need their best batter to make his bat do the talking, helping them recover from the defeat in the second match.

It was a short ball, well outside the off stump from Kagiso Rabada. Yet Steve Smith went for the pull shot. The ball took the top edge and climbed high up into the Gqeberha sky as Matthew Breetzke settled underneath it at midwicket. He juggled it twice and eventually held on, ending Smith’s innings on three. It was a costly dismissal, especially with Australia following on and trying to save the second Test against South Africa.

Steve Smith (File image) (AFP)

The Australian maestro's opportunity to make amends will come at Newlands -- a venue Smith will remember clearly from the 2018 tour. This will be his first Test match at the venue since the game that ended with the infamous Sandpaper gate, his removal as captain and a year away from cricket. Eight years have gone by, and the circumstances are very different now. But Smith arrives at Cape Town in need of a substantial innings.

Australia opened the series with a convincing 214-run win in Durban. Then, the hosts made a strong comeback in Gqeberha, winning the match by an innings and 31 runs and drawing the series level.

While the Aussies have been rocky with their show, Smith’s series so far has been dull. He has scored only 83 runs in the four innings at an average of 20.75. For a batter with 11,000 Test runs under his belt, the absence of even a half-century in such an important tour is conspicuous.

While his batting is going through a drought, the tour has also tested him physically. He was hit on the helmet in Durban, prompting subsequent concussion checks. Then neck spasms bothered him in Gqeberha, where Wiaan Mulder cleaned him up for 28 in the first innings. However, his mode of dismissal in the second innings cannot be explained by physical discomfort alone. Smith attempted a high-risk shot early in his innings, when the requirement was to bat out time.

How Newlands has treated Steve Smith

While we all remember the 2018 tour, Newlands has not always been cruel to Smith. In 2014, Australia arrived at Cape Town with the series tied at 1-1. In the first innings, Smith scored 84 runs off 155 balls and then followed it up with a quickfire 36 from 20 in the second. The then 24-year-old played a major role in Michael Clarke’s side winning the match by 245 runs and sealing the series 2-1. Smith finished the tour with 269 runs at an average of 67.25.

Four years later, Smith reached Newlands with the series level at 1-1 again. However, there was still a match to go in the tour. By then, Smith had become the captain of the Australian team and was considered one of the best batters in the world.

He managed only five and seven in two innings in Cape Town, but what followed shifted the focus away from the failures of the Australian skipper and even the team’s 322-run defeat.

Television cameras caught Cameron Bancroft hiding something that he used to alter the condition of the ball. Later investigation revealed that David Warner had devised a plan and directed Bancroft to use sandpaper. Smith failed to stop this despite knowing about it. Cricket Australia’s investigation revealed that he had directed that evidence be concealed and made misleading statements afterwards.

Smith, Bancroft and Warner were sent back home mid-tour. After returning, Smith apologised, and months later, he acknowledged, “That was my leadership failure.” The consequences extend far beyond that match, and it turned out to be one of the darkest phases in his career. But time did not stop; Smith returned to cricket and let his bat do the talking.

A familiar ground, a different challenge

Smith’s return was emphatic, to say the least. During the 2019 Ashes, he amassed 774 runs at an average of 110.57 on his return despite the hostility of the English crowds. Since then, he has repeatedly proved his brilliance on the field. Recently, he scored 138 against England in Sydney and made 71, 44 and 42 in three innings against Bangladesh in August. The current lack of runs is not evidence of decline; he is just having an off tour.

Before this tour, Smith described the 2014 South Africa tour as “one of my favourite series I’ve been involved in” while speaking to cricket.com.au. However, his memories of the next visit were completely different. While speaking to Sydney’s Daily Telegraph, he said that he had tried to block much of 2018 from his mind.

Newlands will not give Smith any chance to change what happened eight years ago. He has survived and outlasted that controversy with his sheer brilliance. But the order of the hour is much more substantial for Australia. They need their best batter to make his bat do the talking, helping them recover from the defeat in the second match and making a comeback in the series.