Unorthodox stance restricts ways of getting out, reveals Steve Smith
Steve Smith in a podcast episode with Ish Sodhi for the Rajasthan Royals has revealed that the reason for his unorthodox stance is to restrict the different ways of getting out. He also added that his outside the off-stump stance helps him to leave every delivery that is not hitting the stump alone.
Australia’s Steve Smith in recent years has made a reputation of the best batsmen having an unorthodox stance. While his stance has had the bowlers tired and annoyed, his batting has left one and all impressed. Since returning from the infamous incident in Cape Town, the right-hander made a mess of the English bowling in the Ashes before a rare failure against New Zealand.
However, that has not hindered him from regaining the No.1 ranking for batsmen in Test cricket. In a podcast with Ish Sodhi, the Australian revealed that having an unorthodox stance limits the ways of getting out. In the initial years of his international career, the right-hander was batting low down the order. Since he was promoted, the threat of him getting exposed to good bowling has been aplenty. His technique, however, does not allow a chance for the bowlers.
“For me, you shouldn’t get out if the ball is not hitting the stumps, so that is just a trick from me when I first started doing it, just limiting the ways I get out,” he explained, reported Sportstar.
“It depends on who’s bowling, how is the wicket playing, how I [am going to] score and stuff like that or how people are trying to get me out, probably that determines how open I am or otherwise how closed I am. But my general stance where my back foot is going to almost off stump, or may be even outside at stages, I know that anything outside my eyeline isn’t hitting the stumps,” he added.
Marnus Labuschagne ended up as the highest run-scorer in Test format in 2019. However, Smith was not far off, having scored 965 runs off his own. His stance, in particular, has caught the eye of one and all alongside his temperament of leaving the ball outside the off-stump.
“Sometimes, I get trapped in front but I’m okay with that at stages, knowing that if it is outside my eyeline, I don’t need to try and play the ball, I can just leave that,” he concluded.
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