Australia’s national cricketers Steve Smith, David Warner, and Mitchell Marsh were seen training in the Sydney Olympic Park on Monday. The Aussies cricketers resumed the cricket activities after three months because of the global pandemic. The former captain Smith opines how the extended break will affect a player’s game in the long run.
Steve Smith last played the ODI match against New Zealand at home before the series was postponed because of the outbreak of the virus. Since then, the unorthodox-batsman has not played a competitive game. In the past couple of months, he has kept himself busy by running and gyming at home.
“I’m probably in the best shape I’ve been in in years, doing lots of running, lots of gym stuff at home. It’s been a couple of months of good hard work,” Smith was quoted as saying by the ‘Sydney Morning Herald’.
I haven’t touched the bat: Steve Smith
Interestingly, Steve Smith, who is famous for shadow batting, has revealed that he has not touched the bat during the lockdown period. He took a break from batting to focus and refresh mentally and physically on his health. The right-hand batsman said that the three-month rest period was a good thing for him to freshen up after having busy scheduled last year.
“I haven’t touched a bat, really. A couple of little drills at home but that’s about it. I’ve just tried to switch off from it a bit, which I don’t do very often. I was just focusing on getting myself fit and strong and refreshing mentally,” he said.
“It’s been a bit different but I’m sure in the long run it will probably be a good thing to freshen up after a pretty long year and a half since the World Cup and Ashes.”
Notably, the smallest continent, Australia, is among the least infected areas, with 7000 positive cases being reported.