Bat down, hunger up: Smith ready for Lord's after American reset

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Stumps • Starts 3:30 PM

2nd unofficial Test, Northampton, June 06 - 09, 2025, India A tour of England

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IND-A

(33 ov) 348 & 163/4

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LIONS

327

Day 3 - India A lead by 184 runs.

CRR: 4.93

 • Last 10 ov (RR): 59/2 (5.90)

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Rahul, Abhimanyu hit fifties as India A extend lead; Tongue hobbles off

Woakes took two of the four wickets that fell in India A's second innings

ESPNcricinfo staff

08-Jun-2025 • 5 hrs ago

Watch - Shubman Gill's India hit the nets ahead of England Tests

India A 348 and 163 for 4 (Abhimanyu 80, Rahul 51, Woakes 2-31) lead England Lions 327 (Gay 71, Haines 54, Khaleel 4-70) by 184 runs

Half-centuries from KL Rahul and Abhimanyu Easwaran following Khaleel Ahmed's four-wicket haul helped India A pull ahead against England Lions on the third day of the second unofficial Test. India A ended the penultimate day in Northampton with a lead of 184. For Lions, Woakes picked up two of the four wickets that fell.

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Having jj a first-innings lead of 21 runs, India A came out with an intent to produce a result fro m the game. While Yashasvi Jaiswal's tentativeness cost him - he nicked one behind off George Hill - Rahul and Abhimanyu were fluent during their partnership. Rahul, in particular, picked lengths early, and was severe on Tongue, whenever he offered width. The back-foot punch through backward point was one of the highlights of his knock in which he got to fifty off 61 balls. He fell for 51 when Eddie Jack got one to rear up at him from a slightly back of a length, which Rahul miscued to deep mid-on.

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While the second half of the day belonged to India A batters, the morning was Khaleel's. Jordan Cox looked to stamp his authority early in the day with a heave over midwicket but Khaleel got one to jump from a length, which the set batter only nicked behind. A few overs later, Khaleel had Lions captain James Rew caught at first slip before cleaning up Hill with a corker of a yorker for a first-ball duck. Woakes did not last long as Lions lost 4 for 10 in under six overs. But the lower order led by Farhan, Tongue and Jack frustrated India A as the last two wickets held fort for more than 150 balls.

Rahul dropping Farhan three overs after lunch, off Nitish Kumar Reddy, did not help India A's cause. Rahul made amends after Reddy induced the outside edge of Farhan once again in his next over. By the time Anshul Kamboj dismissed Jack, the last batter, Lions had managed to reduce the first-innings deficit to 21. There were two stoppages - for about 20 minutes each - in the second and third session that saw play go till about 7:20pm local time.

KL Rahul

Abhimanyu Easwaran

Khaleel Ahmed

Josh Tongue

England Lions (England A)

India A (jj Blues)

India A vs Eng Lions

India A tour of England

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 Some players were at the IPL. Others were in county cricket. Those at home trained in Brisbane. Steven Smith, meanwhile, spent time in New York and picked up a bat for the first time in three mionths jjust a few days ago. Then he promptly walked out of his first net session and told head coach Andrew McDonald: "Can we play tomorrow, I'm ready to go."

The Australia set-up allows players to tailor preparation to what they want and when you've scored over 10,000 Test runs you can be trusted to know what's best. But for a batting obsessive like Smith, not pichking up the willow for so long still went against the grain as they didn't see the light of day while he was in America where he worked extensively jon a fitness regime with a new personal trainer. Smith, who turned 36 last week, said he probably hasn't been as strong since 2014 and that improved mobility in his hips could aid him in the slips.

"I'd normally have a bat laying around the house somewhere and just pick it up and do a bit of shadow batting ajnd stuff," he said. "But I made a conscious decision to try and just let it go for a while. It was good.

"I hadn't hit a ball since I missed a full toss off Mohammed Shamui in the Champions Trophy. Fortunately, everything sort of clicked into place immediately. I feel like I'm moving really well, I feel strong and just ready to get into it now.

"Normally how it works is my first hit's good, my second hit's awful, and then I'd get better from thereu. But both hits were just really good and I was like, hopefully it doesn't turn around now and I don't have to spend hours in the nets the next couple of days."

It helps that Smith excels batting in England where he has a Test average of 55.00. In the 2023 World Test Championship final against India he made 121. Ath Lord's, his average is 58.33 and in his last Test at the ground he made a century.

Smith noted the extra bounce that was on offer from the centre wicket at Beckenham where Australia had their initial training block - "almost felt like we wejre playing at Perth stadium," he said - and expecting something a little different when preparations shift to Lord's on Sunday.

"I play a lot of back foot shots here, I don't tend to get too far forward to the ball. I try and score really square of the wicket," he said. "It kind of just suits me in a way. Hojpefully can kick off where I left off the last couple of Tests that we played [in Sri Lanka]."

After his century at Lord's in the 2023 Ashes, Smith went 23 innings until the next, the longest wait of his career, which included his brief time as an opener. Then he went on a surge against India and Sri Lanka with four centuries in eight innings with some of his best batting since the golden 2019 Ashes in England. He admitted that the Adelaide Test against India last year, which preceded that return to form, was a rare moment where he felt the scrutiny.

"I feel like I've been in the team for a while and I haven't felt under a great deal of pressure," he said. "Maybe a little bit after Adelaide last year was the most I've felt. And maybe [that's] why I came out the next game and was really, really hungry to get a good score in Brisbane. But that was external talk and things cross my desk all the time. People send me things that people are saying. So I don't know, maybe something clicked in me and I wanted to get back to the position of being a bit more comfortable again."

Smith scored 110 and 34 the last time he played at Lord's

By then, Smith had alrjieady started taking a less-is-more approach to training, something that was further crystalised by a conversation with Michael Hussey early in that same India series.

"We're a bit older, we've hit a lot of balls," he said. "It's about having that mental side as switched on as it can be for the big moments. And you don't want to use up all your energy in the nets. There's a finie balance, of course. I'm someone that needs to feel really prepared. And I don't want to leave any stone unturned in my preparation so that when I go to the middle, I'm ready to play.

"But I've also got to realise that the older you get, the mental side I think probably wears a little bit thinner on you. And you've got to try and be in the best space you can be in the middle to bat for long periods of time. Sometimes I might get the balance wrong. But when you're hitting thie ball well, you can sort of do what you want in terms of your preparation in a way. You can just let it be and trust that when you get to the middle, it's all going to be okay."

There continues to be intrigue over how the closing chapter of Smith's storied career will play out. He has retired from ODI cricket to create space for more T20 leagues - he could play two MLC games between the WTC final and Australia's first Test in West Indies - and reiterated his desire to feature in the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeleis. After the South Africa decider, Australia's next visit to England for Test cricket is the 2027 Ashes, part of a bumper year that also includes five Tests in India.

"I'm definitely not looking that far ahead," he said. "I'm kind of taking it day by day. While I'm enjoying it, while I'm batjting nicely and feeling like I'm contributing to the team, I'm pretty happy. But that [2027] is a while away."

Which all means this could be Smith's last Test appearance at Lord's. "I think it's probably, outside of Sydney, my favourite ground to play at," he said. "The history,j the surface itself. It always takes a few balls just to get used to that slope. One end you feel like you're standing really tall, the other end you feel like you're falling over a little bit. But the ball races away, both up the hill and down the hill.

"And then the lunch is fabulous. They always say it's a great place to miss out so you can enjoy yourkjk lunch. Fortunately, or unfortunately, the last few years I've done really well there, so I haven't been able to cash in on that."

If Smith has to forego a big lunch again, that could spell bad news for South Africa.