Australia's Steve Smith takes step closer to return, had "few hits" in New York, confirms skipper Cummins

Bridgetown [Barbados], June 28 (ANI): Australia's batting mainstay Steve Smith is set to rejoin the squad in Barbados and had a crack in the nets as he strives to prove his fitness ahead of the second Test against the West Indies.
Smith was absent during Australia's 159-run victory over the Caribbean side in the three-match series opener in Barbados, which lasted three days. The talismanic batter's absence stems from the compound dislocation he sustained on the third day of the pulsating World Test Championship final against South Africa, which took place earlier this month.
Australia skipper Pat Cummins revealed Smith has returned to batting practice in New York as he aims to push his case by proving his fitness for the second fixture in Grenada, scheduled to begin on June 3.
"He's had a few hits over in New York, which I think was with a tennis ball and an incredi-ball. I think his wound is looking good, so the next stage is to come over here and hit some balls in the nets. "So we'll know more over the next few days," Cummins said as quoted from cricket.com.au.
On Kensington Oval's strip that played all sorts of tricks on the batters, the Baggy Greens missed Smith's experience after tottering at 22/3 in the first innings and 65/4 in the second. With Marnus Labuschagne axed from the squad, it was the first time Australia lined up without the duo since 2018.
Labuschagne, a victim of poor form, was replaced by young opener Sam Konstas. The 19-year-old swashbuckler returned with scores of three and five in his third Test appearance before being dismissed by Shamar Joseph in both innings. Meanwhile, Josh Inglis, who was slotted in the number four spot, registered five and 12.
Cameron Green, who made his second appearance in the number three spot, was unimpressive yet again. While batting at first drop, Green was caught at slip in both innings for three and 15.
Despite a no-show from Australian youngsters, Cummins confirmed that they would continue to back the youngsters and said, "You saw today how tricky a wicket that was, there weren't too many 50-run partnerships throughout the whole game. Of course, the top order would like to score some more runs. The challenge of Test cricket, especially for young players, is that when you get thrown different conditions, you've got to find a way to be effective."
"That's the challenge for our young batting group - if you presented that same wicket next week, would you do anything differently? Would you not? That will be the conversation over the next few days. But we back them in, and their prep leading in was excellent, and the way they're talking about playing is really good, so we've got full confidence," he added. (ANI)