Steve Smith breaks his silence on THAT run-out against Sri Lanka

Steve Smith breaks his silence on THAT comical run-out against Sri Lanka as furious Australia star reveals he has buried the hatchet with Usman Khawaja ahead of second Test in Galle

  • Steve Smith has broken his silence on his comical run-out against Sri Lanka
  • The 33-year-old was dismissed after a mix up with Usman Khawaja went wrong 
  • Smith copped criticism for his furious reaction to his dismissal last week
  • The batsman says he has buried the hatchet with teammate Khawaja since then 

Steve Smith has insisted that he bears no ill will with teammate Usman Khawaja after he saw red following his comical run-out against Sri Lanka last week.

A mix-up between the two batsman saw Smith dismissed after a measly 11-ball innings and the 33-year-old’s furious reaction saw him cop criticism from Australian cricket heroes.

Former captain Mark Taylor said Smith needed to be ‘better than that’ after aiming an icy stare at Khawaja while covered in dirt.

Steve Smith has broken his silence on that comical run out against Sri Lanka in the first Test

And Smith, who has spent the days preceding the second Test in Galle fine-tuning his craft, has admitted that he was ‘pretty upset’ with the dismissal as he aims to hit a big score before the end of the tour. 

‘I hate getting run out, I think anyone does, particularly given the conditions and just gifting them a wicket, as one of the most experienced players I was pretty upset,’ he said via News Corp.

‘That happens in the game, I got over it pretty quickly, I had to keep moving forward. I spoke to Uz (Khawaja) straight after, it was pretty chilled, mix ups happen and you keep moving on.’

A mix-up between Smith and Usman Khawaja saw the former captain dismissed by Sri Lanka

The 33-year-old copped criticism for his furious reaction in the immediate aftermath

Smith missed a handful of ODI games owing to a quad injury and has undertaken copious net sessions with bowling coach Daniel Vettori to hit form moving into the red ball series.

The former Australia captain hopes the intense sessions have helped him acclimatize to the unique conditions Galle has to offer.

Meanwhile, Smith has cast doubt over the sustainability of England’s thrilling ‘Baz ball’ style of cricket after Ben Stokes’ side made history to beat India on Tuesday.

Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow combined to help England seal a mammoth fourth innings chase of 378 runs, with new coach Brendon McCullum encouraging his side to take on a white-ball approach to the traditionally slower format.

Smith says that he has buried the hatchet with team-mate Khawaja ahead of the second Test

Smith believes that England may struggle to replicate that effort against Australia’s potent pace attack in next summer’s Ashes series.

‘It’s been exciting, I’m just intrigued to see how long it lasts, if it’s sustainable,’ Smith said. ‘If you come on a wicket that’s got some grass on it and Josh Hazlewood, Cummins and Starc are rolling in at you, is it going to be the same? We’ll see what happens.

‘I think you saw the last Test against England, the pink ball game in Hobart, when ‘Heady’ and Marnus started to take the game on, the wicket was doing plenty, so it was a counteract, put the pressure back on the bowler mentality, and it worked on that occasion. Is it going to work every time? I don’t know.’




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