Smith disagrees with Head and Cummins on batting orders saying “it’s nice to have a single role”

Andrew McGlashan03-Dec-2025Steven Smith has confirmed he will use the anti-glare strips under his eyes when batting during the day-night Test at the Gabba after some advice from Shivnarine Chanderpaul ensured he was wearing them the correct way up.Smith trained with them under lights in the lead-up to the second Test against England and said he definitely felt a positive impact. However, initially he had not quite used them the way they were designed.”I actually messaged Shivnarine Chanderpaul and asked him what his thoughts were, whether he wore the chalk or the strips,” Smith said. “He said the strips, and he thinks it blocks out 65% of the glare. And he also said, ‘I’ve seen photos and you’re wearing them the wrong way’. So yesterday I put them on the right way.”I agree with him. I think it certainly stops the glare. Yeah, I’ll be wearing them.”Related

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The ‘eye blacks’ – small, black, adhesive strips worn on the cheekbone – that Smith wore in training are commonplace in several American sports, and are designed to reduce the glare from floodlights by absorbing the light that would otherwise reflect off the skin.Smith is known to not be a fan of batting against the pink ball. In day-night Tests he averages 37.04 with one century compared to 58.31 in day matches with 35 hundreds.”It’s hard to bat all the time,” he said of any difference between twilight and complete darkness. “It’s a tricky one. The ball reacts obviously differently to a red one. It can change quickly. It can start moving randomly.”You’ve got to try and play what’s in front of you at that time and when it does shift on you and the ball starts doing something different, you’ve got to try and come up with plans to counter that, whether it be more aggressive, whether it be going to your shell and trying to get through that period. Everyone’s different. It’s trying to be one step ahead when it does start to shift.”Steven Smith wears black tape under his eyes•Getty ImagesDuring the previous day-night Test at the Gabba, when West Indies famously won by eight runs in early 2024, Mitchell Starc commented about how the harder surface at the venue meant the pink ball went softer than it does in Adelaide where extra grass can act as a cushion.”I think Adelaide, the wicket they have down there, it’s quite furry, and the ball can kind of stay harder for longer,” Smith said. “Here it’s obviously renowned to be quite a hard, fast wicket, and it’s difficult to change your characteristics of the wicket. So at times [the ball] can get a little bit soft, and you can see guys batting comfortably at stages. So that’s one thing we have to weigh up going into this game, and see how it plays out.”Amid uncertainty over how Australia would line up for the Test, Smith said they would be open to in-match flexibility around the batting line-up, referencing the possibility of two nightwatchers. But he was not fully buying into the belief of Pat Cummins and Travis Head that batting orders were overrated despite having opened the batting in four Tests in 2024 at his own request, including the last pink-ball game at the Gabba where he carried his bat to finish 91 not out in Australia’s failed fourth innings chase.”I think [with the] pink ball, anything’s possible,” Smith said. “We’ve been pretty open in the past around maybe having two nightwatchmen and things like that, so it’s a completely different game.”You’ve got to play what’s in front of you at any given stage, but I’m not sure I completely agree with those two on the batting orders being overrated. I think it’s nice to be in a similar role and get used to that role over and over again.”So, it can change in games, and maybe that’s the way forward. But having certain spots for one innings and other spots for a second innings, I’m not sure about. I think it’s nice to have a single role and try to get used to that as much as possible.”

England captain Ben Stokes is confident he can manage a gruelling workload during the Ashes having bowled at intensity over the past two months. He will make his return to competitive cricket in a three-day intrasquad game with England Lions starting on Thursday, urging England’s players to go “balls to the wall” in their sole warm-up ahead of the first Test.There has been uncertainty over the fitness of Stokes, who has been sidelined since late July with a shoulder injury. But he has been bowling flat out at England’s training sessions at Lilac Hill, a suburban ground in Perth’s outskirts that once hosted light-hearted 50-over games for touring teams.”I’ve been bowling like that for two months now,” Stokes said. “It was nice to put the feet up but once the rehab started, I’ve hit the ground running. There has been a lot of hard work to get my body in a good place. I’ve had two-three months of building up to get here and that’s where all the hard work comes in.”Related

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Stokes was ruled out of the fifth Test against India with a torn shoulder muscle after a heavy workload with the ball, claiming 17 wickets for the series in performances marked by long, gut-busting spells.”[Injuries] could happen any time, one of those things when you’re an athlete you’re always exposing yourself to injuries,” he said. “It’s part of what we do. I bat, bowl and field. It’s a pretty high intensity role that I do.”It’s frustrating, but also a little bit of realisation that I might have a little niggle here and there.”Stokes will test his fitness in England’s practice game at Lilac Hill. The exact details of the match are yet to be known, but Stokes confirmed that it would be an XI vs XI contest and that the full Ashes squad will take part along with England Lions players.”Next few days is balls to the wall for everyone, no easing into it and it will be a good run for everyone,” he said. “We’re going to be giving everyone in our squad time out in the middle. Everyone will be getting an opportunity.”It will be proper and taken very seriously the next few days. We’ve got nine days until the first Test and a lot of things can happen.”Other than Stokes, a lot of focus will be on the fitness of quicks Jofra Archer and Mark Wood with England contemplating selecting them in tandem for the first Test on an expected fiery surface at Optus Stadium.”It’s great to have the X-factor that Jof and Woody possess in terms of pace,” Stokes said. “Woody’s got over his knee surgery he had quite a while ago, he’s overcome that, and he’s looking really, really good.”Jofra’s been out on the park for two-and-a-half years now, so it’s great seeing those two flying in and sending some fast balls down there at our guys as well.”He’s going really well. He’s been looked after with workloads to get to this point. He’s in a great place at the moment.”Ben Stokes speaks to the media at Lilac Hill in Perth•Getty Images

As hinted by assistant coach Marcus Trescothick, England appear likely to back incumbent Ollie Pope at No. 3 although Stokes remained coy. “We’ve been very consistent with our team selections. We know exactly what we want,” he said.”Pope’s done a great job for us at number three. There are nine days to go. There’s a lot of things that can go right. There’s a lot of things that can go wrong. We’ll have a team one-two days [ahead of the first Test] as normal.”About 30km away from England’s training hub, nestled in a popular wineries region, a Sheffield Shield match is ongoing at the WACA where Cameron Green and Marnus Labuschagne have had eye-catching contributions.”I think a couple of their players have put in some good performances out in the field for their states,” Stokes said. “But when you get out there in the field and the heat for the Ashes on that first day, you know that you’re expected to go and deliver for your team. That’s a completely different ball game.”Stokes has arrived in Perth as the pantomime villain – branded a ‘cocky captain’ on the front page of the city’s tabloid newspaper – but he remains focused on a series that looms as legacy-shaping for his side.”That’s part of being in Australia. It’s another one of those things that we’re going to have to deal with,” Stokes said of the media scrutiny. “Especially for some of the guys who are here for the first time, just letting them know that’s what it is going to be like.”I would love to come back [to England] in January and say that I’ve helped the team win an Ashes in Australia. That’s obviously the goal. We are very, very determined to walk away with the goal that we want.”

England have arrived in New Zealand for their white-ball tour, but all the noise is about the upcoming Ashes. Alan Gardner is joined by Andrew Miller and Matt Roller to catch you up on the latest

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Oct-2025England have started out on their winter touring commitments, arriving in New Zealand for T20I and ODI series ahead of the Ashes in Australia. On this week’s pod, Alan Gardner is joined by Andrew Miller and Matt Roller to talk through the latest – notably the increasingly urgent updates from Australia on Pat Cummins’ fitness. Also on the menu: T20 World Cup preparations, Jacob Bethell’s mission to impress, and the start of the Ashes phoney war.