Young Tiger quick's epic start to Shield season

For a man who has ticked off more Sheffield Shield bingo card items in six days of cricket than many veterans have across their entire careers, Lawrence Neil-Smith has managed to remain level-headed about it all.

It would be a fair assumption to make that no other player has, in the space of just two games, ever completed the following:

● either bowled or batted on every day of cricket he has been involved in

● been used as a nightwatchman in three consecutive innings (including twice in one match) with remarkable success, facing nearly 400 balls and twice passing fifty (including notching his maiden first-class half-century)

● taken a maiden five-wicket haul to help his side topple Western Australia on their home patch at the WACA Ground

● been substituted out of that match after suffering delayed concussion symptoms

● earnt player-of-the-match honours for that game despite only playing in the first half of it

● been ranked among the top three bowlers and batters in the competition with a bowling average of 14.83 and a batting average of 79.50.

By anyone's standards it's a reasonable list of accomplishments for a 22-year-old who began the season with only half-a-dozen first-class matches to his name and no guarantees of a spot in the Tigers side having been overlooked for all but one Shield match last season.

Neil-Smith, who grew up in Sydney before moving down to Hobart in 2018, has since passed the requisite concussion protocols and will reclaim his spot in the Tasmanian side to face Queensland at Townsville's Riverway Stadium from Wednesday.

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Lawrence Neil Smith's Shield season so far:

Batting – Inns: 3 | Runs: 159 | Balls: 391 | HS: 71* | Ave: 79.50 | SR: 40.66

Bowling – Inns: 3 | Wkts: 6 | Overs: 33.1 | BB: 5-45 | Ave: 14.83 | Econ: 2.68

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"I was talking to someone about it the other day – I think I've been on the field in some form for the first six days of Shield cricket this season," the former Australian Under-19 representative told cricket.com.au.

"It's kept me really busy, which I've enjoyed, maybe because I haven't had much time to think about what's going on. I can just focus on the ball in hand or the balls coming at me.

"I've just been pretty happy just to be playing cricket, really."

Neil-Smith, a talented junior ruck-forward who attended the Sydney Swans' AFL academy along with the likes of Sam Wicks and Nick Blakey, is predominantly a fast bowler who models his game on teammate and Tigers attack leader, Jackson Bird.

Before his match-winning first-innings haul against WA last week however, his most noteworthy contributions had come with the bat.

In 2019, Tim Paine had the tall right-hander to thank for being able to get to his first first-class ton in 13 years as No.10 Neil-Smith, on Shield debut, stood firm at the other end during a 111-run stand, which incidentally also came at the WACA.

Image Id: B89202D2786746E8864701F68E189CA0 Image Caption: Neil-Smith scored 39 off 150 balls on first-class debut to help Paine reach a century in 2019 // Getty

Two years on, a successful first-innings effort (of 28 off 64 balls) as nightwatchman against the Bulls earlier this month in Tasmania's season-opener saw him enlisted again in their second dig on a road at Karen Rolton Oval.

The sight of Neil-Smith walking out to bat late on day three was not well received by the Bulls, who were hopeful stand-in captain Beau Webster may employ more aggressive tactics in a bid to achieve a result and were later critical of their opponents.

"We had a conversation as a team and to that point 13 wickets had fallen in three days," explained Neil-Smith.

"So even to set a total, which hadn't been discussed by the captains, it was a pretty unrealistic expectation that we were going be able to bowl out a really quality Queensland side on a batter-friendly pitch.

"I was just given free licence just to bat as long as I wanted the next day … I copped it a little bit - Mark Steketee came out with a pretty fiery spell late on that third day."

The range of strokes Neil-Smith displayed in his unbeaten 71 in the drawn encounter meant Tasmania did not hesitate to send him out again in their next clash against WA when Jhye Richardson claimed an early wicket with three overs left on day one.

Not only did he survive both that awkward late period and a ferocious bouncer blow from speedster Lance Morris that obliterated his helmet, but he also bravely pushed on to score a game-high 60 runs that set up a tense three-wicket win – the first victory by any team so far this Shield season.

"I've watched it back a few times," Neil-Smith said of his attempted pull shot off that was the cause of his delayed concussion. "I got myself in an awful position but I guess that's how a guy with that sort of pace challenges you at the top level."

While he has now batted in the top five in all three of the batting innings he has been available for this Shield season and has scored more runs (159) than all but one of his teammates (opener Tim Ward, with 245), Neil-Smith does not pine to be picked as an allrounder.

Rather, he is likely to shoulder a greater workload with the ball in this week's rematch with the Bulls from which Peter Siddle will be rested, joining fellow attack leader, Bird, on the sidelines.

Image Id: 8A5C96B337B84EE9ACAEA726B6B3F235 Image Caption: Neil-Smith took his maiden five-for against WA // Getty

"I've been trying to tell the guys that I can hold the stick for the last few years," said Neil-Smith. "I've put the extra work in this preseason so that if the chance arose I'd be ready, and luckily it has.

"It's pretty good top seven we've got at the moment – I can't see myself pushing anyone out of that at this stage.

"I'm not blind to the fact that I'm only a fourth-year player, and I'm still only 22-years-old.

"I'm hopefully still at the starting end of what's a long career to come. But yeah, I'm thrilled with how it's all going."