5 Bowlers who can trouble Steve Smith in Test cricket
Excluding 2018 where he was banned, in the last 6 years, Smith’s average has never dropped below 70!
3. Jofra Archer:
In the post-lunch session on day 4 of the second Ashes Test at Lord’s, the world witnessed one of the most hostile, enthralling and captivating passages of Test match cricket. Jofra Archer hurled down a barrage of bouncers towards Steve Smith- one of them which hit Smith near the neck and had to be taken off the field. Archer had announced his arrival on the international stage in the World Cup. He was England’s leading wicket-taker and was pivotal in their maiden world cup triumph.
In that spell against Australia, his average speed in one of the over was 92.7 mph; the fastest over by an Englishmen in tests. Steve Smith is a great player of the short ball, but against Archer, even the best test batsman flinched and startled. He did all this on his debut, while clocking 95 mph and looked as subtle and carefree as a West Indian can be.
The Barbadian was fast-tracked into the English team before the World Cup. Archer is once in a generation bowler for England. There haven’t been such bowlers in the English cricket history who can rack up the pace as Archer does. He is raw, he is vastly skillful, and he resembles the West Indian bowlers from the 80s. Surely, the 24-year-old is here to stay. Archer bowling to Smith the next Ashes series on the fast tracks in Australia will be a fascinating gala.
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