Former Australia captain Steve Smith won’t be taking part in the Test series against India starting December 6 since he is banned from international cricket till March, but that hasn’t stopped him from helping his team’s bowlers prepare.
Smith took part in a nets session on Tuesday where he faced Australia’s Test quicks Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins, according to cricket.com.au.
It wasn’t just Smith but even David Warner, also banned till March, took part in an Australia nets session on Sunday.
The duo, once national captain and vice-captain respectively, were suspended from state and international cricket for 12 months in March over the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa.
Despite a run of dire results, Cricket Australia last week ruled out relaxing their bans after a push to do so by the Australian Cricketers’ Association.
Both Smith and Warner have been training with their New South Wales team while playing club cricket as they work their way back to fitness and wait for their bans to expire.
But with Indian batting maestro Virat Kohli awaiting Australia in the first Test in Adelaide from December 6, they have been enlisted to help the pace attack prepare.
Here is a video Cricket Australia released of Smith’s net session:
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