Steve Smith played many memorable strokes during his unbeaten six and a half hours at the crease during the first Test against India at the Adelaide Oval last week, but one, on the dimly lit second afternoon, stood out, purely and simply for shock value.
As the ball left Varun Aaron’s hand at 140 clicks, Smith opened his front leg, in the direction of mid-wicket, and raised his bat, towards wide third man, striking a full-frontal pose fit only for the sealed section of the coaching manual.
In the present safety-conscious environment, the result was actually slightly scary. The connection was brutal. Aaron deflected the ball with self-protecting hands; Ian Gould, the umpire, recoiled like a soldier who had heard the whoosh of a mortar.