Australia batter Steve Smith has admitted that he has been a ‘little bit worried’ after suffering an elbow injury that delayed his departure from Australia’s training camp ahead of the test series against Sri Lanka.
Smith, who is set to lead the Australia squad in Pat Cummins’s absence, was at risk of missing the two tests after suffering an elbow injury while throwing a ball from the deep.
However, the batter is back to his full fitness and is set to play the opening match on January 29. His injury was similar to that of Smith, who had sustained in the 2018-19 season during the international ban.
He needed a surgery to repair a damaged ligament but made a triumphant return at the 2019 World Cup and the Ashes series that followed.
“It was in the Big Bash game the other night, I caught Davey [Warner] over the boundary and lobbed it back into the field, then threw that ball back in quite hard,” Smith said. “And straight away I thought ‘oh geez, that hurt a little bit’.
Steve Smith’s elbow injury intially gave him a nightmare flashback, but he’s confident he’s good to go for the Sri Lanka Test series #SLvAUS pic.twitter.com/V7ADtFwB6z
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 21, 2025
“That was a similar sort of feeling to when I ruptured my ligament back in 2019, so I was a little bit worried for a little bit. But scans showed fortunately my ligament is still intact, the one that I got repaired.”
“I’ve got a little bit of muscle damage, and it’s a small millimetre of the ligament on the bone that’s doing something.”
“It’s probably going to stop me throwing for a little while, but in terms of batting I’m pretty comfortable. I’ll be able to get into it and play with some tape on it.”
Smith has 9999 test runs will undergo a modified training programme in the UAE, which began on Tuesday with a few laps of running and some physiotherapy on his elbow.
“It’s feeling a lot better than it was a few days ago,” Smith said. “I’ve got all my movement back, my hyper-extension… is back which is good, so I’m pretty much ready to get into some batting. Initially it will start light, my first session back I won’t do too much in terms of expansive play.”
“I’ll probably be batting with some tape on it just to limit me getting into proper hyperextension which I actually did throughout 2019 when I came back in the IPL and in the World Cup.”
“I had tape on it then to stop me getting into really end range [of hyperextension]. I managed fine through that and pretty confident it will be right.”
The first match of the Sri Lanka tests will begin on January 29 at Galle International Stadium.
