LONDON (AP) — Star batter Steve Smith and his dislocated finger are going with Australia to the Caribbean.
Smith doesn’t need surgery on the compound dislocation to his right pinkie from the World Test Championship final at Lord’s, captain Pat Cummins said on Saturday.
But Smith’s appearance in the three-test series against the West Indies starting on June 25 in Barbados remained a major doubt.
“I’d say first test maybe unlikely and then go from there, but it’s a bit early just to tell,” Cummins said.
Smith became the highest non-English run-scorer in tests at Lord’s and was hurt at a decisive moment in the final against South Africa on Friday.
Standing at first slip and closer to the wickets than usual, his finger was smashed by an edge off South Africa captain Temba Bavuma and he dropped the catch. Bavuma was on 2 and went on to 66 in a match-winning stand with opener Aiden Markram, who scored 136.
Smith’s finger should heal in two weeks and he could play depending on his tolerance for wearing a splint. He has to wear the splint for eight weeks, which encompasses the entire series.
Cummins was grateful that the West Indies tests — their opening series in the 2025-27 WTC cycle — mean they don’t have long to lick their wounds after losing the final by five wickets inside four days.
“To make these finals, it’s normally off the back of being really strong at home, but you’ve got to win some away series too,” Cummins said. “We’ve got a good chance to do that straight away. A three-test-match series out there, it means we’re into some really important cricket.
“So, in some ways, it’s good we get to dust ourselves off and turn around in a couple of weeks and start looking ahead to the next one. That’s one of the good things about the World Test Championship, every test series and every test match feels like you’re playing for something significant.”
Cummins said they naturally want to be in the 2027 final but the makeup of what is an aging team has to be balanced between giving new talent a chance while trying to win matches, with an Ashes home series coming up in November. It wouldn’t surprise if there are test retirements after that.
“It does feel like a little bit of a fresh start,” Cummins said. “Fast forward a couple of years, you start thinking about who’s going to win. Hopefully if we make the final, who’s going to be in that? Do we want to get some games into them? Do we feel like now is the right time to change? Or do you hold with the team that got us to the final?
“A new WTC cycle in some ways does feel like a bit of a reset.”
Cummins had a good final, taking seven wickets and reaching 300 for his career, but he believes Australia let slip a second straight WTC title after having the upper hand at times. He felt their 74-run first-innings lead could have been more.
“There’s lots of moments where both teams wrestled back control,” he said.
“Our first-innings lead was really important. But it was an opportunity where we could have batted the opposition out of the game by putting on well over 300 plus.
“We didn’t give ourselves a big enough buffer and we let them back into the game. It’s disappointing to miss a huge opportunity like this, and when it happens by a little bit it leaves you feeling a bit empty.”
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AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
Foster Niumata, The Associated Press
