Steve Smith in scary admission before return to scene of Ashes nightmare

Steve Smith has made an eye-opening admission about his concussion from the bowling of Jofra Archer as the Aussie cricket star prepares to return to the scene of one of his nastiest Ashes nightmares. Smith was famously knocked out at Lord's in 2019 after being struck on the helmet by a thunderous Archer delivery, with Marnus Labuschagne becoming Test cricket's first ever concussion substitute after Smith was ruled out of the remainder of the Test.

Smith has made his return to the famous English ground this week, training on Saturday for the first time since his side's epic two-wicket victory in the opening Ashes Test at Edgbaston. Speaking ahead of the match at Lord's, which gets underway on Wednesday, said it felt like he'd had "a dozen beers" after being clattered by the Archer thunderbolt.

'WHAT A MOMENT': Aussie stuns in never-before-seen Ashes heroics

'I'M DONE': England great's shock admission after Ashes first Test drama

OUCH: Ellyse Perry in 'heartbreaking' scenes after falling short of Ashes history

In one of cricket's more frightening scenes of recent years, Smith was hit by an Archer short ball in the back of the head while on 80 and lay on the ground for some time before retiring hurt. The batting maestro briefly returned to the field at the fall of the next wicket before being out lbw for 88. He was subsequently ruled out of the match with concussion.

"It was a very difficult period to get through," Smith told the Legend of the Ashes podcast. "I caught one on the arm, got away with a few pull shots that are top edge and a couple in the gaps.

"And then I copped one in the back of the head, which hurt a fair bit. At that stage, I didn't realise I was getting concussed. I went off and did all the tests, passed all the tests.

"It wasn't until I came back out. Half-an-hour after, when the adrenalin sort of went out of my system and I started to feel quite groggy, probably like I'd had a dozen beers to be honest." Smith put the frightening incident down to the fact he wasn't seeing the ball properly on an overcast day at Lord's.

"It was quite a dark, gloomy day. The clouds were rolling in and out," Smith added. "Lord's itself can be a little difficult when they are bowling from the members' end with the members sitting there and the sightscreen not as big as at other grounds.

"There were a few distractions there, and it was just a day (when) I wasn't quite seeing the ball as well as I would have liked from that end." Fortunately for Smith, he won't have to face Archer again after the quick was ruled out of the series with injury, denying fans a chance to see the pair rekindle that infamous battle from the 2019 series.

England to maintain aggressive approach for second Test

The second Test looms as a must-win for England, who have vowed to stick to their aggressive 'Bazball' approach, despite some criticism over the manner of their first Test defeat. Captain Ben Stokes has copped plenty of backlash after the earliest declaration in Ashes history on day one, while centurion Joe Root was still at the crease.

However, veteran paceman James Anderson insists his side will continue to push the envelope and keep up the attack in the second Test. "We'll go more positive, more aggressive, more entertaining," Anderson declared.

"We want to try and make sure people go home happy, as they did each day at Edgbaston. "Just because we're 1-0 down I don't think we'll try anything different.

"We showed enough last week to show we can win the next four if we keep playing like that and iron a few things out. We'll go exactly the same."

With a 1-0 lead in the series, the Australians are in an understandably buoyant mood, with spinner Nathan Lyon suggesting his side can ride a wave of momentum from arguably the greatest Test victory they've ever shared in.

"It was an absolutely incredible Test win and to be able to play a part in that was extremely special," Lyon said. "It is going to go down as one of the best Test matches I've played in.

"The mood has changed. There's a lot of work we need to do. We feel like we can still get a lot better, and we need to get a lot better if we want to compete against England and the brand of cricket they're playing."

with AAP

Sign up to our newsletter and score the biggest sport stories of the week.