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Steve Smith recalls memories of Phillip Hughes after being hit on the neck during Ashes 2019
Young Aussie batter Hughes was hit on the neck as well in 2014, but could not survive the fatal blow, which left the cricketing realm in shock.
Australian batsman Steve Smith, who was injured by a lethal Jofra Archer delivery during Day 4 of the second Test of the Ashes 2019 series after being hit on the neck, was reminded of Phillip Hughes after the incident.
Young Aussie batter Hughes was hit on the neck as well in 2014, but could not survive the fatal blow, which left the cricketing realm in shock.
"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. That was probably the first thing I thought about then I was like 'I'm OK here' and I was alright. I was a little bit sad but I was alright mentally for the rest of that afternoon. I felt pretty good, passed all my tests and was able to go and bat and then it wasn't until later that evening that it hit me," Smith said.
The player stated that he felt "groggy" on the morning of Day 5 at Lord's and, hence, could not take the field. Scans revelaed that there was a late onset of concussion symptoms, and the Aussie team ruled him out of the fifth day's play, with Marnus Labuschagne taking the field as the first-ever concussion substitute in cricket.
"When the doc asked me what did it feel like I said it felt like I had six beers last night and felt a little bit under the weather, without the six beers unfortunately. That was the sort of feeling I got, that groggy feeling and that stuck around for a couple of days. Not a nice place to be in but these things happen and unfortunately missed what was a pretty amazing Test match. I'm going well. Play the Derby game, get through that and pretty confident I'll be right for the fourth Test match," he said two days out from the tour match against Derbyshire.
Smith, however, had returned to bat on Day 4 after walking out of the field immediately after being hit. There has been a lot of debate over whether the former Aussie skipper should have returned to bat.
"That's a difficult question because as we've seen this series there's been so many head knocks already. Marnus has been hit a few times, Jos got hit at one point, Stokesy's been hit. If you're ruling people out from just hits every now and again we won't have a game. You've obviously got to take the advice of the doctor and how you're feeling and at that point in time I was feeling fine. I wanted to go out like any other player would want to go out and try and help their team and you've got to take the advice of your medical staff. Had he told me that this isn't the right thing to do then that's fine, we cop that on the chin and you get on with things. But he was comfortable and I was comfortable and that was it, just move on and play," he said.
Smith has now passed all the required tests and is likely to play the fourth game of the Ashes that will be played at Derby. "I did some running on the treadmill at about 11.5 km/h for four minutes, and was a little bit puffed after that. Then I did it the next day and was okay, so I progressed into some high-speed running and faced a few of the flickers, and then faced bowlers. So I've ticked all the boxes now, I feel good and I'm ready to play," he said.
