Steve Smith has been brilliant as captain throughout the Ashes series, filling in to aplomb for Pat Cummins in the first, second and fourth Tests. But cricket fans and commentators were left questioning whether he made a massive tactical blunder on day two at the MCG that might have cost Australia valuable runs.
Smith finished 24 not out as Australia were bowled out for just 132 in their second innings, before England chased down the target of 175 for their first Test win in Australia in 15 years. Smith was standing at the non-striker’s end when Jhye Richardson was dismissed for 7 for the final wicket of Australia’s second dig.
Steve Smith was at the non-striker’s end (R) when Jhye Richardson was dismissed. Image: Getty/Fox Cricket
It left fans and commentators confused as to why Smith was happy to give No.11 batter Richardson so much strike. England put the field back when Smith was on strike and allowed him easy singles, and the Australian captain was happy to oblige.
On a number of occasions Smith took a single early in the over and allowed Richardson to face the other balls. Smith did appear to be trying to hit twos and boundaries, but when it didn’t work he was happy to expose Richardson to the strike.
To be fair, Richardson has a batting average of 21.24 in first-class cricket and is definitely no mug. He played one lovely drive down the ground and managed 7 from 10 balls before playing a wild shot and holing out.
Steve Smith allowed Jhye Richardson (pictured) to face 10 balls rather than farming the strike for himself. (Photo by Martin KEEP / AFP via Getty Images)
Cricket world confused by strange Steve Smith move
At one point when Smith took a single early in the over, Michael Vaughan said in commentary for Fox Cricket: “I’m not sure I agree with that”. Fans were also stunned that Smith wasn’t farming the strike more considering he was the set batter and had the chance to peel off another 20 or 30 valuable runs by staying on strike.
Considering England only had four wickets in hand on a treacherous pitch when they won, Smith’s decision to expose Richardson loomed as a very costly mistake. There’s no saying how many more runs Smith could have got by himself, but surely it was a better option than allowing Richardson to face 10 balls.
One person wrote on social media: “Why the hell did Smudge give strike to Richardson when they are 9 down?” Another commented: “Richardson is a very decent bat, but still that’s poor management from Smith. Probably left another 15+ runs out there.”