Brisbane: Now that he’s worked out that he had them upside down, Steve Smith is more confident about wearing the black strips under his eyes while batting in the day-night Ashes Test at the Gabba starting Thursday.
More commonly used by footballers playing under lights, the black strips are part of Smith’s attempt to leave nothing to chance facing the pink ball against England’s bowling attack in changing light conditions.
The Australians are coming off an eight-wicket victory in the series-opener in Perth, which finished on Day 2 after Ben Stokes’ England line-up wasted strong momentum at several stages while pursuing an attack-at-all-costs Bazball routine. Smith is expecting more of the same from England. He said his lineup would also offer more of the Aussie approach to the game.
The Australians have an excellent record in day-night test matches, with the only one blemish. That was an upset eight-run loss to West Indies in January of last year at the Gabba, a ground where the Australians have been otherwise close to unbeatable
for decades.