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Australia star batter revealed that the past three years of his cricketing career was the most challenging time in terms of batting. Smith who smashed his 33rd Test century in the Gabba Test against India reckoned that Cricket Australia's decision to change the Kookaburra was the main reason behind his rough patch in the longest format of the game.
Kookaburra changed their ball in 2020 by adding extra lacquer on a reinforced seam. Lacquer is a plastic layer that hardens the ball while a reinforced seam makes the red cherry firmer and allows it to move around more.
"Since 2021 when they changed the Kookaburra ball, batting has definitely got more difficult, particularly at the same time wickets got greener as well. So it's kind of like a perfect storm coming together," Smith said at the customary press conference at the end of second day's play.
He also said that facing Jasprit Bumrah during the first 30-35 overs was challenging as the ball was moving around and bowlers like Bumrah knows how to make it more difficult for the batters.
"I think particularly the first 35 overs, I'd say, of an innings is very challenging at the moment with the significant seam movement. But then kind of, as I said before, I think the ball stays hard.
"So if you get through that period and, you know, you've got some guys like Travis and Marshy and Alex coming in, the ball still bounces off the bat a lot harder than it used to.
"So, the last three years have probably been the hardest that I've experienced in my career. Batting-wise, in terms of the amount of movement that's been generated.
"You can see that in the way the scores have come down as well. And, you know, bowling averages come down, batting averages come down.
"And usually in the first innings of a game, if you're putting, you think back probably five years ago, you're seeing consistent 400, 500s being scored in the first innings. If you put a three in front of it these days, you're usually in a pretty strong position.
Coming back to the match, After losing three quick wickets, Steve Smith and Travis Head smashed individual centuries that helped the hosts to end the day 2 in their favour. Australia was 405/7, with Alex Carey (45*) and Mitchell Starc (7*) unbeaten.
