Steve Smith Sticking With Anti-Glare Tape for Day-Night Test at Brisbane

Steve Smith is gearing up to play the next Ashes test at Brisbane with full intensity. Since it is a day-night game, he has decided to wear anti-glare tape beneath his eyes while batting under lights. This is quite an interesting choice that is not commonly seen among the Australian players. Smith is pretty keen to make an impact in this test, as his previous appearances in day-night matches have not been encouraging.

The Australian superstar took the inspiration of wearing anti-glare tape from the West Indian great Shivnarine Chanderpaul. He revealed that Chanderpaul guided him on how to apply the tape correctly after Smith messaged him for advice.

"I actually messaged Shivnarine Chanderpaul and asked him what his thoughts were, whether he wore the chalk or the strips. 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.” said Steve Smith while talking to the reporters.

"I agree with him. I think it certainly stops the glare. Yeah, I'll be wearing them." added Steve Smith.

It should be noted that ‘eye blacks’ strips are worn by many athletes in various American sports. It helps to reduce the glare from the floodlights, allowing the players to pay attention to their respective tasks more accurately without any distractions.

Being an intelligent cricketer, Steve Smith has chosen to wear them to improve his focus on the pink ball. It will be particularly useful while batting under lights, when the ball tends to move around sharply.

The ace Australian batter is also not fond of playing pink ball test matches. According to Smith, the pink ball acts differently as compared to the red ball, making it harder to play under lights.

"It's hard to bat all the time. It's a tricky one. The ball reacts obviously differently to a red one. It can change quickly. It can start moving randomly.” said Steve Smith.

He explained that the moving pink ball requires different dynamic strategies from the batters. It is challenging because the unpredictable swing of the ball demands you to always stay one step ahead.

"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." said Steve Smith.

Batting Could Become Easy at the Gabba, Says Steve Smith

Talking about the pitch conditions, Smith noted that the Gabba will offer a harder surface. As a result, the ball can soften more quickly here compared to Adelaide, where the wicket has more grass. This is certainly an encouraging sign for batters because playing a soft ball is much easier than a harder one.

"I think Adelaide, the wicket they have down there, it's quite furry, and the ball can kind of stay harder for longer. Here it's obviously renowned to be quite a hard, fast wicket, and it's difficult to change your characteristics of the wicket.” said Steve Smith.

“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." added Steve Smith.

When asked about Pat Cummins and Travis Head’s views on changing the batting order, Smith said that he prefers the idea of maintaining a settled batting lineup. This statement clearly defines that Smith prefers a more specialized opening combination to keep the overall batting organized.

"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.” concluded Steve Smith.