Steve Smith Gets Baptism of Fire as Australia Captain Against India in Brisbane
Mark Taylor knows a thing or two about difficult beginnings to captaincy. Though recognised as one of Australia's finest leaders, it wasn't a pretty start for Taylor when he took over from Allan Border in 1994.
Travelling to Pakistan with a strong squad, the New South Welshman arrived at his first Test as skipper with high hopes of leading Australia to its first victory in the subcontinental nation in 35 years.
But it didn't quite work out that way.
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Taylor himself made a pair in Karachi, dismissed for nought in either innings by Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis. And then his bowlers started falling apart.
Glenn McGrath succumbed to injury in the second innings. Off-spinner Tim May did the same. Compounding the effect of Craig McDermott's absence after his earlier withdrawal, Taylor was left with just Shane Warne and Jo Angel as his front-line options.
Australia, forced to use the Waugh twins for 18 overs, limped to the game's conclusion.
The symmetry.
It was Taylor, of course, who presented Steve Smith with his captain's blazer on the first morning of the second Test between Australia and India in Brisbane. In a tight circle with team-mates, support staff and family, the 25-year-old, taking over from the injured Michael Clarke, pulled on the coveted piece of attire as Taylor gave his best wishes to Australia's 45th Test captain.
In hindsight, a word of warning might have been better. Because by the end of the day's play, Smith might have needed Taylor's understanding arm around his shoulders.
Indeed, what could have gone wrong for Smith on Day 1 did go wrong.
He lost the toss. India batted. The mercury read 40 degrees. It felt like 80 (Taylor, that guy again, even said it himself on the commentary).
Once out there, Smith's men misfielded balls. They watched chances drop between them. They dropped others themselves. Their heads dropped, too.
And his bowlers, well, they just dropped in numbers.
After injuring his left hamstring in India in September, Mitchell Marsh hobbled off the Gabba surface with the same problem in his right. His Test with the ball is over.
Joining him back in the dressing room was Mitchell Starc, who was overwhelmed by both the soaring temperature and India's batsmen. Heat-exhaustion, sore ribs, sore back—Starc had it all.
Among those to remain standing, Mitchell Johnson went wicketless across a whole day—an occurrence that, for England and South Africa, was a distant fantasy. He even conceded his runs rather swiftly. As did team-mate Nathan Lyon.
So tough was this opening day in Brisbane that David Warner even bowled an over. And aside from Josh Hazlewood's impressive showing on debut (he also endured difficulties with cramps), perhaps the only positive for Smith was that the ever-so fragile Shane Watson reached stumps all in one piece.
After play, it was Australia's team physio Alex Kountouris who explained just how severe this afternoon was on the bowlers.
"He had cramps all over his body, so it wasn't just one place," Kountouris said of Hazlewood, per ESPN Cricinfo, who left the field in the final session. "Typically when they cramp they cramp in their calf or their hamstring or something and they tend to get on with it.
"The difficulty with him is he was cramping everywhere. It was both calves, both hamstrings, groins, hips; he just couldn't function."
And just in case any had questioned it, Kountouris was unequivocal in his assessment.
"Today was a tough day," he said. "Test cricket is brutally hard."
To Smith's credit, he did all that could have been asked of him in his maiden appearance as captain. He heavily rotated his seamers. He protected Johnson's body. He shuffled his field. He tinkered with his plans. And he did so as his bowlers went on and off the field with alarming regularity. With the presence of substitute fielders almost out-numbering those in the XI.
"I thought he coped really well considering the revolving door, in and out," Australia coach Darren Lehmann said of Smith after stumps, per ESPN Cricinfo. "He didn't know who was on the field and the substitutes. We had John Davison (Lyon's 44-year-old spin coach) in his whites, we had everyone. I thought he did a good job."
On a day that Smith should have been allowed to savour, he couldn't. He simply had to endure it.
"I haven't experienced that as a coach or seen it as a player," Lehmann added. "Hopefully it doesn't happen again."
Smith will hope so, too.
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