Australian head-coach Justin Langer is uncertain about Steve Smith’s return in the third ODI against England on Wednesday. Smith had taken a blow on his head during a net session, ruling him out of the ODI series.
The star batsman recovered from the blow and also cleared the concussion test ahead of the third and the final ODI match.
Yesterday, Langer was confident about Smith’s return, but the 31-year-old looked a bit greasy in the practice session.
After the nets session, Langer interacted with spoke to the SEN Breakfast as he said: “In terms of Smithy, he had a hit today. He still looks a bit rusty to be honest. We’ll give him until the last moment to play but I’m not as confident now as I was 24 hours ago. “If he doesn’t come up again, we’ll keep his – like all of our players – health in mind.”
Marcus Stoinis had taken Smith’s spot during his absence from the side and he is expected to bat at the same position in the final ODI.
The ODI series is currently leveled at 1-1- and both the teams will be looking to seize the opportunity in the series decider. Australia lost the second ODI and hence they will try to curb all the mistakes in the final ODI on Wednesday.
“When we were cruising in the last game, my mind was ticking over all sorts of opportunities, (thinking) ‘We might be able to give the (reserve) guys the last game,” Langer said.
