Banned Steve Smith faces Aussie pacers at SCG nets

What's the story?

Former Australia skipper Steven Smith faced the bowling trio of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins in the nets at Sydney. The Aussie pacers practised along with Cricket Australia XI who will be up against India in the four-day warm-up match beginning on Wednesday.

According to reports on the Cricket Australia website, the CA XI captain Sam Whiteman said, "It is good to see him around the traps, especially his attitude throughout this whole thing. It looked like they were bowling well and to be fair Smith made it look like he had a bit of time in there, which is pretty amazing to watch."

The background

Since the ball-tampering saga broke out in Australia's tour of South Africa, things at Cricket Australia has been on a downward spiral. The then skipper Smith, alongside maverick opener David Warner and Cameron Bancroft, were found guilty and have been serving their suspensions from the game.

On Sunday, David Warner was seen giving a formidable challenge to the Australian pace trio and next it was Smith's turn for the same. The suspended players have not taken part in any of the first-class fixtures as well and will continue to do so for the next six months.

The details

With the four-match Test series against India beginning on 6th of December, the bowling trio is focused on the rigorous preparation to tackle the daunting task of bowling to Virat Kohli and co.

Perhaps, despite his suspension, Smith still remains to be one of the ablest batsmen in world cricket. The right-handed played effectively against the quicks who were bowling at top speeds although there was no speed gun in place.

Only Josh Hazlewood managed to trouble Smith to some extent as he made Smith go to the ground while attempting a hook shot on one of Hazlewood's well-directed bouncers.

What's next?

By bowling to batsmen with abilities like Smith, the trio of Starc, Hazlewood, and Cummins would have had a high-quality test of their skills and will be raring to go in the quest against the Indian batsmen.

For Smith, however, Cricket Australia recently declared that they have no interest in revoking the ban and that Smith along with Warner shall serve their bans completely.