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'Totally livid': Steve Smith hits out over Test match 'disgrace'

Sam Goodwin
·Sports Editor
·5-min read
Steve Smith, pictured here hitting out at the state of the pitch for the first Test between Australia and Pakistan.
Steve Smith has hit out at the state of the pitch for the first Test between Australia and Pakistan. Image: ICC/Getty

Steve Smith has bemoaned the state of the pitch being used for the first Test between Australia and Pakistan in Rawalpindi as the match heads towards an inevitable draw.

Australia will resume on day five at 7-449 in their first innings, still trailing Pakistan by 27 runs in a game that has had any life sapped out of it by the flat pitch.

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Even Smith, one of the great lovers of cricket, seemed lost for answers when asked how any result could still be possible headed into the final day's play.

"I'm honestly not really sure at present," he told reporters after day four.

"I guess we'll have a chat ... and see if there's a way we can set the game up.

"Hopefully the tail can stay out there for a while and if they do, score pretty quickly.

"We could set a half-decent total, get 100 in front, and you never know with this game."

Smith said the pitch hasn't done enough to offer up a proper contest between bat and ball.

Just 11 wickets have fallen in as many sessions of cricket, with the ICC's rating sure to be of interest.

Strangely, Rawalpindi has traditionally been the best wicket for quick bowlers in Pakistan - with no score over 300 when South Africa played the hosts there last year.

"It's pretty benign. It's not a great deal of pace and bounce in it for the seamers," Smith said.

"The spinners have offered a little bit. When you pick the right length there has been a little bit of natural variation.

"I thought it would break up a little bit more, probably turn a bit more from the start but it hasn't done so.

"There's not very much balance, not a great deal of pace.

"If you bowl stump-to-stump and set a straight field it's not overly easy to score or get out."

Steve Smith, pictured here in action for Australia in the first Test against Pakistan.
Steve Smith in action for Australia in the first Test against Pakistan. (Photo by AAMIR QURESHI/AFP via Getty Images) (AAMIR QURESHI via Getty Images)

Steve Smith 'totally livid' after missing century

Smith was left fuming on Monday after missing the chance to score a century in the seemingly easy batting conditions.

The Australian vice-captain was caught behind down the leg side on 78 trying to sweep Nauman Ali (4-107).

The left-arm finger spinner had come over the wicket and bowled outside Smith's leg stump, having him play and miss at two deliveries before catching his glove on the sweep shot.

“He was actually totally livid with himself,” commentator Mike Haysman said.

Steve Smith, pictured here batting on the flat Rawalpindi pitch against Pakistan.
Steve Smith bats on the flat Rawalpindi pitch against Pakistan. (Photo by AAMIR QURESHI/AFP via Getty Images) (AAMIR QURESHI via Getty Images)

Smith admitted as much in his press conference.

"It was pretty annoying," he said.

"I got a bit greedy there with the field they had set. Even if I was hitting that I was probably only getting a single.

"If we had perhaps gone (to stumps) five-down we would have been able to go a bit harder in the morning and potentially set something up for the final day of the match."

Instead, Marnus Labuschagne was left equally annoyed by his dismissal on 90, while Cameron Green was disappointed to go for 48 sweeping outside leg.

But realistically, the missed chances will only make a statistical difference, with a stalemate almost certain in the first Test of the inaugural Benaud-Qadir Trophy.

with AAP

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