Steve Smith overcomes elbow injury fears in Big Bash League incident

Australia batting stalwart Steve Smith recently had a sigh of relief after overcoming fears of a serious elbow injury ahead of the Test series against Sri Lanka. Smith, who will captain the Australian side in the absence of Pat Cummins, sustained the injury during a Big Bash League (BBL) match, raising questions about his availability for the series.

The 35-year-old's injury scare occurred during a BBL match at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG). While making an outfield throw after taking a catch, Smith felt sharp pain in his elbow, the same one that underwent ligament surgery in 2019. That previous injury required an extensive recovery period, so the sudden pain brought back troubling memories for the veteran cricketer. 

"It was in the Big Bash game the other night, I caught Davey [Warner] over the boundary and lobbed it back into the field, then threw that ball back in quite hard. Straight away I thought oh jeez, that hurt. That was a similar sort of feeling to when I ruptured my ligament back in 2019, so I was a little bit worried for a little bit. But scans showed fortunately my ligament is still intact, the one that I got repaired. I've got a little bit of muscle damage, and it's a small millimetre of the ligament on the bone that's doing something," Smith was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

I'll be able to get into it and play with some tape on it: Steven Smith

Notably, the initial scans of Steve Smith revealed no ligament rupture but detected minor muscle damage and a small irregularity in the ligament near the bone. The injury’s root cause may have come from an earlier blow to Smith’s shoulder by Jhye Richardson during the BBL, which had changed his throwing technique. Despite the scare, Smith’s participation in the Sri Lanka series is expected, although with some limitations in fielding. Smith, who arrived in Dubai for Australia’s pre-series training camp, has already begun a modified training program.

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"That was a similar sort of feeling to when I ruptured my ligament back in 2019, so I was a little bit worried for a little bit. But scans showed fortunately my ligament is still intact, the one that I got repaired. I've got a little bit of muscle damage, and it's a small millimetre of the ligament on the bone that's doing something. It's probably going to stop me throwing for a little while, but in terms of batting I'm pretty comfortable. I'll be able to get into it and play with some tape on it," he added.

The training camp in Dubai, which features custom-made pitches copying Sri Lankan conditions, is to help the squad prepare for the spin-dominant series. Smith opened up on the camp’s importance.

"I was watching a bit there and there was a lot of variation in the spin and some bounce as well. That's the reason we are here in Dubai, we are able to do what we want to do with these wickets, try and help guys develop game plans when it does get extreme. Guys are going to learn over this week and hold us in good stead for the tour," Smith concluded.