“Hopefully I won't have to bowl too much” - Steve Smith admits he hasn’t been working on his bowling at all

Australian batter Steve Smith admitted that he hasn’t been working on his bowling at all after Day 2 of the second Ashes 2023 Test at Lord’s on Thursday. The Aussie run machine made the admission having bowled the last over of the day’s play in England’s first innings.

Australia suffered a setback on the second day of the Test match as their lead spinner Nathan Lyon limped off the field after suffering a calf injury during the final session of play. In his absence, part-timer Travis Head bowled five overs before Smith came on to bowl the last over of the day.

With Lyon unlikely to take any further part in the Test match, Australia might require the services of Smith the bowler. However, the 34-year-old, who made his debut for Australia as a leg-spinner, candidly admitted:

"Hopefully I won't have to bowl too much. I haven't been working on my bowling at all!"

On how Australia can try and make up for Lyon’s likely absence to an extent, Smith added:

"I thought Heady bowled alright. Heady's probably the one that's going to have a take a fair chunk of the spin, and then maybe myself and Marnus (Labuschagne) will chip in here and there.”

Earlier, Smith provided an update on Lyon’s injury and conceded that it wasn’t looking too good.

He commented:

"He could be a huge loss. However we've got Todd Murphy waiting in the wings. He's been bowling beautifully in the nets. I'd be confident if he came in he'd do a terrific job for us. But fingers crossed Nathan's alright."

Playing in his 100th consecutive Test, Lyon got the wicket of England opener Zak Crawley, having him stumped for 48. He bowled 13 overs for 35 runs, which included a maiden.

---

“I really hope it's not too bad for him” - Ben Duckett

England opener Ben Duckett, who scored a fine 98 to get the hosts off to a good start with the bat, also hoped that Lyon’s injury is not too bad.

Asked about the same at the media interaction, he replied:

"I really hope it's not too bad for him. You never want see anyone go down with an injury. He was going to play a massive role in that fourth innings, he's such a good bowler.

"It'll be interesting to see how they go about it. If they keep going bonkers with all four (fast) bowlers they'll be pretty tired by the end of it," he added.

Meanwhile, England will resume Day 3 of the Lord’s Test at 278/4, trailing Australia by 138 runs in the first innings.