The Prodigal Son of Australian cricket, Steven Smith, has just announced that he’ll be donning the Sussex jersey for three County Championship matches. The move, as per Smith, is to gear up for the potential World Test Championship final and the highly-anticipated Ashes series, set to kick off on June 16 at Edgbaston.
Now, before you all jump to conclusions, let’s not forget that Smith has played T20 matches in the UK before, but never in county cricket. The news has been met with mixed reactions, with former England skipper Michael Vaughan hailing it as a ‘great signing for the game’, while some English fans have dubbed Sussex as ‘traitors’ for letting Smith get some game time before the Ashes.
The issue of rival players participating in domestic competitions before an Ashes series has been a contentious one for a while now. Former England coach Trevor Bayliss even said that Australian Sheffield Shield teams won’t be signing English players ahead of an Ashes series in Australia.
But, Smith, the unflappable cricketer that he is, isn’t bothered by the noise. He says that playing in county cricket won’t make a real difference and that he’s just going to play some cricket and have some fun. He also mentions that he’s looking forward to mentoring some of Sussex’s young batters and sharing his experiences with them.
So, there you have it folks, Steven Smith’s Sussex stint, a move that’ll be watched with bated breath by cricket fans across the globe. Will it give him an edge over the English bowlers in the Ashes? Only time will tell.”
