Sheffield Shield: Steve Smith bags a 5-ball duck for NSW, his first after 54 innings in first-class cricket

Former Australia captain Steve Smith returned to first-class cricket for New South Wales after a period of two years and though much was expected from the premier Kangaroo batsman, everyone who turned up to see another classic from him was a mighty disappointment. He has 11221 runs in 123 FC matches with 40 centuries and the highest score of 239 and an average of 59.05.

Smith made his brilliant return to cricket in the ICC World Cup 2019 and then to Tests in the recent Ashes series. Though he didn’t do much in the premier ICC tournament, Smith turned out to be the savior for the Baggy Greens in the Ashes, as he single-handedly carried their batting throughout the series, scoring three centuries with the highest score of 211. Much was expected from him when he turned out in the ongoing Sheffield Shield Trophy match against Queensland.

Smith scores a duck on return to FC after 54 innings

Yes, you read it right. The mercurial right-hander from NSW was playing his first match in Sheffield Shield in two years, but disappointed the crowd who turned out to see him play, as he was caught by Joe Burns in the slips off Cameron Gannon of Queensland on his fifth ball at the crease for a duck. This was the first time in 55 innings that Smith was dismissed for a blob.

Gannon bowled a wide delivery and Smith looking for his trademark backfoot cover drive, threw his bat at the ball and edged to the second slip. This was much of an anticlimax given the form he has shown in red-ball cricket ever since returning from his one-year ban for ball-tampering.

The last time we saw a duck next to his name on the scorecard was against South Africa in the 2016 Test match at WACA, Perth.

Here is the video of his dismissal against Queensland:

Turns out Steve Smith is human after all! Out for a duck on a day of #SheffieldShield carnage at the Gabba pic.twitter.com/9LI8VPga8x

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) October 10, 2019

Meanwhile, Smith had scored 774 runs against England in recently concluded Ashes 2019 series with an average of 110.57. He scored twin centuries in the first Test of the series and made 92 in the second Test at Lord’s before getting hit on his head and missing the third match. He returned for the fourth and fifth Tests and contributed well to Australia retaining the urn for the first time in England since 2001.