Steve Smith returns to the fourth Ashes Test against England at Old Trafford in Manchester. He was put to rest after the second Test at the Lord’s after he got a concussion due to Jofra Archer’s bouncer. After his recovery, Smith is back making massive hits in the field.
The Australian batsman expressed his disappointment for missing the Test match at Headingley. But he’s happy that he made huge figures. ‘It’s satisfying to get a big score. I was disappointed to miss Headingley but I wasn’t quite right and the right call was made. It gave me time to recover and I felt good. I was confident and have got us into a nice position’, Smith said.
The second day of the fourth Ashes Test resumed at 3-170. Smith’s double century helped his side declare at 8/497. The home team was 1/23 at Stumps. England’s Ben Stokes got an injury scare after suffering soreness in his shoulder and didn’t manage to continue for the rest of the match.
However, despite he’s doing well in the match, he still received boos from some of the crowd. Jeers came when he made his first and second century. Smith was booed during the second Test at the Lord’s at the moment he was struck by Archer’s delivery. Smith just shrugged it off as it doesn’t bother him and he’s pretty chilled.
Steve Smith was ranked one in the ICC Test Rankings for Batsmen with a rating of 904. He reclaimed the no. 1 spot from Indian skipper Virat Kohli. Smith is on the top spot since December 2015 but he slipped down when he was banned due to his involvement in the ball-tampering scandal in 2018.
England (14.50) and Australia (1.03) are now preparing for the upcoming match. The odds of the two teams are now available in online sports betting sites.