Smith shows more signs of his sublime best

As an avowed acolyte of Steve Smith's batting, Marnus Labuschagne should rightly be among pre-eminent judges as to whether Australia's most prolific contemporary Test batter is in sublime or merely special form.

But after watching Smith from a distance of 22 yards across 161 minutes at Perth Stadium today, Labuschagne was unable to answer an end-of-play query as to whether his teammate and mentor is back to best-ever touch.

Smith resumes on day two of the opening NRMA Insurance Test match against West Indies tomorrow on 59, having already put on 142 in an unbeaten third-wicket partnership with Labuschagne who ended the day 154 not out.

The early signs were – after Smith declared during the recent Dettol ODI Series against England he was close to rediscovering his batting best – that the former Australia captain was in peerless mode, having joined Labuschagne in the middle shortly before tea.

On a pitch where shot-making had not been altogether straightforward, against a bowling attack that gave little away while not appearing overly threatening, Smith began hitting the ball in the middle of his bat from the moment he took guard.

Image Id: F6030775AAF8477FA874372CEBB2E421 Image Caption: Smith struck seven boundaries in his unbeaten 59 on day one // Getty

He cruised to 50 from just 75 balls faced, with the only impediment to his progress being the medical timeout he took during the day's final drinks break where he received treatment to his back which Labuschagne claimed was related to the "grumbly hip" problem Smith has been suffering of late.

"I'm assuming it's with the hip," Labuschagne said at day's end, when asked for a prognosis on Smith's health.

"It was on that right side he was getting treatment, so I assume he was just getting a bit of trigger point there to loosen his hip because I think it was locking up a bit."

Less clear in Labuschagne's mind, however, was a judgement call on whether he'd seen Smith batting better than his current iteration having borne witness to numerous innings of brilliance since the pair first played together at Test level during the 2019 Ashes campaign in the UK.

That was the series in which Smith was singlehandedly responsible for his team retaining the tiny terracotta urn on enemy soil, with a return of 774 runs from four Tests (average 110.57) despite missing one match with concussion after being felled by a Jofra Archer bouncer at Lord's.

"He averaged 100 in a series in 2019 where the conditions were tough, it (the ball) was nipping around and he made batting look ridiculously easy," Labuschagne told reporters tonight.

"As an onlooker, that's the best I've seen him bat but in terms of feel, he would say that looks ugly – open stance, playing the nipping ball, being a bit more front on.

"That's what he felt was right for that time, and he averaged 110 for the series.

"So I don't think it matters how Steve Smith bats, he's going to find a way to score runs."

The fact Smith had recently judged himself to be in the best form he's felt since that stellar northern summer is a far more relevant guide than the assessment of even his most ardent student.

As Labuschagne noted, when it comes to Smith's self-styled technique, it's more a case of how the master feels at the crease than any outward displays of aesthetics that matter most.

It's a complex combination of the way his hands feel on the bat handle, where he's finding gaps in the field, and his head position at impact that carry far greater relevance than the batting textbook, of which Smith has never been an adherent.

He started tinkering with his idiosyncratic technique during the ODI component of the Qantas Tour to Sri Lanka earlier this year, and made further changes throughout the recent T20 World Cup when he was surplus to Australia's requirements and spent much of his time hitting balls in the practice nets.

As Labuschagne explained it, Australia's sixth-highest Test runs scorer felt his pronounced movement across the crease prior to bowlers' delivery was robbing him of momentum into the ball in slower sub-continent pitches against Sri Lanka.

Having fine-tuned those changes early in the Australian summer, he has now found a technique that is delivering the sorts of results he found on the opening day of the two-Test series against West Indies and threatens to grow into the sort of score that has eluded him on home soil in recent years.

"But I'm sure give it twelve months, there's certain to be something different," Labuschagne said.

"Like all of us, everyone's changing and trying to get better and sometimes you go down different loopholes and different feel, but this is what's feeling really good for him at this stage."

Despite his all-conquering effort against England on return from his 12-month ban in 2019, Smith has managed a solitary Test ton in Australia since the Boxing Day Test of 2017.

On the evidence tendered on day one of the home Test summer today, that drought seems set to break against the West Indies and into the three-match NRMA Insurance Series against South Africa that immediately follows.

Provided his "grumbly hip" holds up, the 33-year-old resumes tomorrow in sight of a hundred and in conditions that are expected to be significantly better for batting than day one proved, with the heavy grass cover making free scoring problematic for batters early today.

“I think tomorrow will be the best time to bat, is my personal opinion,” said Usman Khawaja, who battled the toughest conditions of day one having opened the batting and scoring 65.

"After that, if it stays hot, it feels like (the pitch) will deteriorate and cracks might start to open.

"At least I hope they do, because we're bowling last."

Men's NRMA Insurance Test Series v West Indies

Nov 30 – Dec 4: First Test, Perth Stadium, 1:20pm AEDT

Dec 8-12: Second Test, Adelaide Oval, 3pm AEDT (day-night)

Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, David Warner

West Indies squad: Kraigg Brathwaite (c), Jermaine Blackwood, Nkrumah Bonner, Shamarh Brooks, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Roston Chase, Joshua Da Silva, Jason Holder, Alzarri Joseph, Kyle Mayers, Anderson Phillip, Kemar Roach, Jayden Seales, Devon Thomas

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