Hitting Steve Smith with the bouncer reminded me of Phil Hughes’ death: Jofra Archer

Ashes 2019 was undoubtedly a series to remember for Steve Smith. The Australian stalwart, after returning to the game after serving the ball-tampering ban, took the world by storm by accumulating 774 runs in four matches which he played in the series. The right-hander smashed three hundreds and as many half-centuries and boasted a staggering average of 110.57 in the series.

Smith was a consistent performer for the Aussies as they retained the Ashes with a 2-2 draw last summer. The prolific run-scorer marked his return to the international scene with a bang and silenced all his critics. One exciting battle during the Ashes was the on-field contest between Smith and Jofra Archer. The speedster was consistently hurling bouncers at Smith and the crowd was enthralled to see the contest between both the players.

During the contest, Archer even bowled a 92 mph brutal bouncer which floored Smith followed by the latter’s concussion on the head. Smith immediately fell on the ground before the physio and medical team pulled him off the field.

Archer, recollecting memories from that incident, has revealed that the tragic death of Phillip Hughes came into the speedster’s mind after hitting Smith with the bouncer.

In 2014, former Australian batsman Phil Hughes passed away after being hit by a short-pitched delivery. The incident took place during a domestic match held in Sydney and Hughes got hit on the head from a ball of Sean Abbott. Hughes immediately fell on the ground and two days later, he was declared dead by the doctors.

We all know Steve Smith is mad for cricket: Jofra Archer

“My first reaction was that it hit the helmet, but a few seconds after he went down, everyone was like ‘Oh no’,” Archer told Talksport radio.

“We had the stuff with Phil a few years ago and, generally, anything that hits you in that vicinity is going to be trouble. I’m just glad that he came out on the other side of it and batted in two games,” added Archer.

A few minutes later, Smith came to bat again, and everyone was surprised but not Archer. The speedster revealed that he had seen Smith’s passion for the game when he had played with him in India.

“I wasn’t surprised when he came back out to bat because I played with him in India and we all know he’s mad for cricket. To be honest, even if he didn’t come out then, he would’ve come out as the last batsman. The concussion wasn’t so weird because they only brought in new rules recently. I was just upset that the replacement batsman came in and batted so well!” Archer added further.