After winning the first Test against the West Indies, another good news for the Australian cricket team has come out. Captain Pat Cummins revealed that Steve Smith is back for batting practice in New York and may be available for the second Test against the West Indies in Grenada. Smith was ruled out of the Australian Test team after a finger injury during the recently concluded World Test Championship final at Lord’s.
In the final match against South Africa, Smith was a compound dislocation in a small finger of the right hand while trying to take a catch in the slip. According to a report by Cricket.com AU, he went to New York to continue his rehab. Cummins revealed that if Smith is able to pass the fitness test, he would return to the team for the next Test against the West Indies at the National Stadium in Grenada on July 3.
After Australia’s victory in the initial Test in Bridgetown, Cummins said, “He has done some batting in New York, which I think was batting with tennis balls and increded-balls. I think his wound is healing, so the next phase will come here and play a few balls in the nets.”
At the same time, speaking on the performance of the young stars, Cummins said that he will continue to get opportunities and he would like the young players to learn this tour and prepare themselves. Cummins said, “Of course, the top order would like to score a few more runs. The challenge of Test cricket, especially for young players, is that when you are in different circumstances, you have to find a way to be effective but we supported them and we supported them and their preparations were fantastic and the way they are talking about playing is really good, so we have full faith.”
The Australian team is ahead 1-0 in the three-match series after winning the first match and now the pressure is on the West Indies team. Now if the West Indies want to win the Test series against Australia on domestic soil, then they will have to win both the remaining Tests.
