Ashes: Archer was reminded of Hughes after Smith's head injury
England fast bowler Jofra Archer has claimed his bouncer that had felled Steve Smith during last year's Ashes, reminded him of the late Phil Hughes. Hughes went on to lose his life after being hit by a short-pitched delivery during a domestic Sheffield Shield match in 2014. Smith, who was concussed, returned to bat in the final two Tests. Here's more.
The horrific incident brought Lord's to standstill
After sustaining a few blows off Archer, the frivolous Smith misjudged a fierce bouncer which struck on his neck. The medical team was called immediately with the latter was lying on ground. He was forced to retire midway through the innings, but later returned and smashed the first two balls to boundary. Marnus Labuschagne was announced Smith's replacement for the second innings.
Archer recalls the incident at Lord's
"My first reaction was that it hit the helmet but a few seconds after he went down, everyone was like 'Oh no'," Archer told Talksport radio. "We had the stuff with Phil a few years ago and, generally, anything that hits you in that vicinity is going to be trouble," he added.
Smith missed the third Test, returned with a bang thereafter
Smith was ruled out of the third Test due to concussion. England went on to win a dramatic Test match to crawl back in the series. A lot of eyes were on Smith as he returned for the fourth Test. He struck a superb 211 and followed that up with 82. Australia won the Test by 185 runs.
'People are very aware of what happened to Phillip Hughes'
Earlier, England wicket-keeper batsman Jos Buttler had said everybody was reminded of Hughes' miserable demise after Smith was felled. "There was that sense of something happening. It was incredible drama. It was scary because he (Steve Smith) got hit on his neck or just beneath. People are very aware of what happened to Phillip Hughes, so there was huge worry for everyone," Buttler said.
Archer claimed 22 wickets in his debut Ashes series
Despite warming the bench in the first Test, Jofra Archer was all guns blazing in his Test debut at Lord's. He perturbed the Australian batsmen with his raw pace as he consistently clocked around 150 KPH. However, his duel with Smith followed by perpetual verbal spats, grabbed quite a few eyeballs throughout the series. Overall, he scalped 22 wickets in four Tests.
Smith had a memorable outing in England
Smith ended his magnificent run in Ashes 2019 with a record 774 runs from seven innings, including three hundreds. He emulated Sunil Gavaskar's feat of 774 runs (vs West Indies, 1971). Notwithstanding, Smith also missed one Test, owing to concussion.
