Steve Smith Thought Of Phil Hughes After Being Hit By Jofra Archer Bouncer

Steve Smith was ruled out of the second Ashes Test after being hit by a 92.4 mph (148.7 kph) Jofra Archer bouncer on Day Four at Lord's. Cricket Australia had announced that Smith suffered a delayed concussion response to the blow to his unprotected neck and later he had to sit out of the Headingley Test as well. Smith, who is expected to be back for the fourth Test in Manchester, revealed that in the seconds after he was struck on the neck, his very first thoughts were of the death of his teammate Phillip Hughes almost five years ago. "I had a few things running through my head, particularly where I got hit, just a bit of past came up, if you know what I mean, from a few years ago," Smith was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.

"That was probably the first thing I thought about.

"Then I was like, 'I'm okay here,' and I was alright. I was a little bit sad but I was alright mentally for the rest of that afternoon," he added.

With scores of 144, 142 and 92 in his three innings, Steve Smith is the leading run-scorer of the series so far.

As the ongoing five-match Test series is the first being played under the International Cricket Council's (ICC) new regulations, Marnus Labuschagne became the first concussion substitute in Test history after Australia's request was approved by match referee Ranjan Madugalle.

Labuschagne also rose to the challenge and posted three consecutive fifties in as many innings in the series.

The Ashes series is evenly poised now as Ben Stokes' heroic unbeaten century helped England beat Australia by one wicket at Leeds on Sunday.

The fourth Test will be played at Old Trafford in Manchester from September 4.

Topics mentioned in this article

Australia Cricket Team England Cricket Team The Ashes 2019 Cricket Steven Smith