Steve Smith will pose a different challenge for us if he plays Grenada Test: West Indies coach Daren Sammy

Steve Smith is in line to make a comeback in the second Test against the West Indies after missing the series opener due to a finger injury he sustained during the World Test Championship (WTC) final against South Africa. The talismanic batter was fielding at slips, closer to the batter than the orthodox position, as he didn’t want an edge to fall short. However, this move was a double-edged sword as it gave Smith very little time to react to a thick edge in the second innings, and he suffered a nasty compound dislocation of his finger.

Smith decided not to go under the knife, and instead, he wore a splint on his right little finger while it healed. According to a report from ESPNcricinfo, Smith won’t be fielding at slips during the second Test. However, his batting prowess will surely give Australia a lot of respite as their top-order has been fragile of late.

West Indies head coach Daren Sammy feels that Australia are already a strong outfit without Smith, and the former skipper’s addition will further bolster the side’s batting department.

“He (Smith) is a quality guy and a quality player. Australia is still strong (without him) because of the system they have. They keep on producing guys. But we’ve seen when we add pressure as a bowling group, we did get 20 wickets in the Test and that’s the first step towards winning. Steve Smith, if he comes in, poses a different challenge to us,” Sammy said, while also rueing the dropped catches during the first Test,” Sammy was quoted as saying by SportStar.

Speaking about the first Test, Sammy said that the fielding let them down, as dropping seven catches turned out to hamper their chances, especially when playing against the No. 1-ranked Test team in the world.

“I think the biggest thing is we shot ourselves in the foot. You cannot drop seven catches against the world’s No.1 team and expect to compete. We have a lot of blame to take for the defeat, but there were also some positives… for the first two days, we were (going) head and shoulders against the No.1 team,” he added.

He [Smith] seems pretty confident, and he’s excited to get back in: Alex Carey

Meanwhile, Australian wicketkeeper Alex Carey said that having Smith back in the playing XI will be a great boon for them. The former said that Smith is pretty confident and excited to return to the longest format of the game.

“(He’s a) class player. Think anytime you add 10,000 runs back into the lineup, you’re going to be pretty happy with it. So we’ll wait and see,” Australia wicketkeeper Alex Carey said of Smith.

“Obviously, he’s having a hit out here. He seems pretty confident, and he’s excited to get back in. But also, it’s been tough at the top of the order, so to add, I guess a little bit more experience is good for the group, but I think they’re doing a pretty good job as well,” he added.

The much-awaited second Test begins on Thursday, July 3, at the National Cricket Stadium in St George’s, Grenada. West Indies lost the first Test by 159 runs in Bridgetown, Barbados.

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