Steven Smith has escaped surgery on his dislocated finger, which he sustained during the World Test Championship (WTC) final at the Lord’s. Smith was fielding in the slips on the third day when attempting to grab a thick edge off Temba Bavuma, and he injured his finger. Smith immediately left the field for the hospital, and looked in pain as he was clutching his right shoulder while leaving, and walked off the field even before the physios came.
The finger is now in a splint, which means even if he manages to recover from the injury, the splint will stay for at least two months. While this doesn’t make him unavailable for cricket for the next couple of months, his availability depends on how well he can endure batting with the finger in a splint. Avoiding surgery means he can expect to make a quicker return, giving himself the best chance he can to get fit before the tour begins.
The timeline for recovery, however, still casts doubts over his availability for the red-ball tour against West Indies later this month. The first Test match of the series begins on June 25 in Barbados, and his injury puts Smith in a race against time to be fit before that.
This also means that he will not be actively participating in Australia’s fielding plans, in the event he makes it to the team for the tour. He usually fielded at the slips and was one of the best catchers that Australia has had.
Smith was also due to head to the Major League Cricket (MLC) to join Washington Freedom for a short stint before the red-ball tour in the Caribbean began, but now that seems unlikely as well.
The timing of Smith’s injury isn’t too great for Australia. Their top-order inconsistencies have only grown, with Marnus Labuschagne and Usman Khawaja, being Australia’s mainstay top-order batters, going through a slump in form. Cameron Green, who joined the two in the top order for the WTC Final Test, hasn’t done an impressive job with the bat either. With the series being Australia’s opening tour for the newly begun World Test Championship (WTC), losing a batter like Smith will cause more problems than they would have wanted.
“He’s positive,” Pat Cummins said of Smith. “I think it’s somewhere around ten days to two weeks. Then maybe you try and bat with a splint and see how that looks. I think it’s a bit of a wait and see. I’d say first Test, maybe unlikely, and then kind of go from there. It’s a bit early just to tell.”
There are backup options, of course. Though they do not bring along the sort of assurance that Smith does. Sam Konstas, who opened for the side during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, could be made to open against West Indies, with Labuschagne assuming his usual No. 3 position and Cameron Green entering at No. 4. Josh Inglis, who was a part of the WTC final squad, will also travel with the team for the West Indies tour, and could be used, albeit in a reshuffled lineup.
