Australia batsman Steve Smith has said he felt anxious after being struck on the head, and that he feared another concussion following a blow in the first Test against South Africa a week earlier. The former captain has suffered multiple concussions during his career. He had to go through concussion protocols after a bouncer from Anrich Nortje hit his helmet on the second-last day of the match at Kingsmead in Durban.
Speaking in a television interview on Sunday, ahead of the second Test at St George’s Park, Smith said: “I was a little bit anxious after the hit, to be honest.” He described the knock as a decent one and said he had struggled to travel well for the rest of that day. He put this down mainly to anxiety, as he worried he might feel again what he had experienced before, such as symptoms on waking the next morning. Smith added that he woke up well and had passed all the tests, and that he recovered quickly.
Smith’s innings and concussion checks in Durban
The 37-year-old was assessed on the field by the physio and the doctor. His helmet was changed, as is mandatory after such hits. He carried on batting and scored 27 runs as Australia built a large lead.
Smith did not take the field at the start of South Africa’s second innings on Monday. Instead, he underwent concussion protocols, which he passed. He returned at the start of the final day’s play on Tuesday and helped his side to a 214-run victory, giving Australia a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
Smith is 28 short of 11,000 Test runs. He was also the first player replaced in a Test after the introduction of the concussion substitute rule.
A history of head injuries in his career
A Jofra Archer bouncer struck Smith at the rear of his skull during the 2019 Ashes Test at Lord’s in London. He also suffered a concussion after being hit on the head during practice in Australia’s One Day International series in England in 2020. Two months later, back home in Sydney, he woke on the morning of the second ODI against India feeling dizzy and was sick.
Further incidents were recorded in Sri Lanka in 2022, at the last World Cup in India, and last December in the Ashes at Adelaide. In Adelaide, he was ruled out of the third Test about 20 minutes before the toss because of a vestibular issue. The vestibular system, located in the inner ear, controls balance and spatial orientation.
