Nathan Lyon has launched an emotional defense of Steve Smith after the former captain's technique came under fire following a disappointing start to his new role as Test opener.
After scores of 12, 11 not out and a six during his first three innings during the series against the West Indies, Smith reached stumps on the third day of the Gabba Test on 33 not out and shaped up as a deciding factor in Australia's chase of 216 to complete five perfect wins among many. This summer starts at home.
The Australians are 2-60, with uncertainty over whether Windies paceman Shamar Joseph will be able to play on Sunday.
Joseph did not run on Saturday night after retiring with a foot injury caused by yorker Mitchell Starc.
The Wendy's newspaper said that the Guyanese citizen had recovered from the fracture, but provided few other details.
Up to 35mm of rain is expected in Brisbane on Sunday.
Smith's move into the opening role has been controversial, and his apparent movement through the offside has been attributed to his downfall in both of his dismissals so far in the series.
However, Leon, Smith's longtime teammate, said he wasn't at all surprised that Smith looked comfortable at the crease on Saturday night.
“We are talking about the greatest player of the last decade,” Lyon said.
“There's a lot of talk about his batting. I sit here and laugh because he's arguably the best problem solver I've ever played with. I've only got accolades for Smithy, and I've been lucky enough to play over 100, 115, 120 Test matches with him. He's the best ever.” Launch. So it seemed natural to me, exactly what I would expect.
While Smith appeared to have found his touch, Marnus Labuschagne lasted a middle 12 months when he was brought up by Windies all-rounder Justin Greaves, cutting for five.
Tourists vice-captain Alzarri Joseph said the Windies tried to take a leaf out of Pakistan's book after Shan Masood's side enjoyed some success against Labuschagne during the pre-summer Test series.
“As I said before this series, we looked at some of the things that the Pakistani bowlers did and we will take them into account,” Alzarri Joseph said.
