Former Austalia captain Steve Smith missed out on the first ODI against England on Friday after suffering a knock in training. Smith’s absence, however, didn’t hurt Australia much as Marcus Stoinis turned out to be an apt replacement of his at the No. 3 spot. Smith’s return in the second ODI, however, remains in doubt as the 29-year-old has to undergo another concussion test before being declared fit for Sunday’s showdown.
“He got a knock on the head yesterday in practice,” Finch said at the toss for the first ODI. “It’s a precautionary measure to leave him out.”
It wasn’t the first time in his career that Smith had to miss a match due to concussion. Earlier during the Ashes 2019 series, Smith was hit on the neck by a Jofra Archer bouncer at Lord’s. He returned less than an hour later to continue his innings but then showed signs of concussion prompting the medical team to rule him out of the remainder of the match. He missed the next Test at Leeds but made a comeback in 4th match of the series.
Austalia put the misery of the T20I series defeat behind them and take a 1-0 lead in the 3-match ODI series. Batting first, Australia rode on half-centuries from Mitchell Marsh and Glenn Maxwell to put a total of 294 runs on the board.
