Cricket-Australia's Smith says head blow left him anxious in first test concussion scare

Australia batsman Steve Smith said he was anxious after being ​hit on the head and facing the prospect of another ​concussion after a blow playing against South Africa ‌in ​the first test a week ago. Former captain Smith has previously suffered multiple concussions in his career, and he had to go through concussion protocols after a bouncer from Anrich Nortje hit him on ‌the helmet last Monday during the second-last day of the clash at Kingsmead in Durban.

“I was a little bit anxious after the hit, to be honest,” Smith said on Sunday before the start of the second test at St George’s Park in a television interview. “It was a decent ‌knock, and the rest of that day, I wasn't travelling too well, and I think it was more to do with anxiety, ‌of hoping not to feel what I felt in the past, waking up the next morning and things like that.

“So, yeah, fortunately, I woke up well. I passed all the tests, and things recovered pretty quickly,” Smith added as he prepared to take part in the rain-delayed second test. The 37-year-old was assessed on the field by the ⁠physio and ​the doctor, and his helmet was ⁠changed as is mandatory for all such hits, but he continued his innings, scoring 27 runs as Australia built a large lead.

PASSED CONCUSSION PROTOCOLS But then Smith did not ⁠take to the field at the start of South Africa's second innings on Monday, instead being subjected to the concussion protocols, which he passed.

He returned from ​the start of the last day’s play on Tuesday to help his side to a 214-run victory and a 1-0 lead ⁠in the three-match series. Smith, who is 28 short of 11,000 test runs, was the first player replaced in a test after the introduction of a concussion substitute. He was ⁠struck ​on the back of the head by a Jofra Archer bouncer in the 2019 Ashes test at Lord's in London.

He also suffered a concussion after being hit on the head in practice during Australia's One Day International series in England in 2020 and two ⁠months later, back home in Sydney, woke on the morning of the second ODI against India with vertigo and was sick. There have also ⁠been incidents in Sri Lanka in ⁠2022, at the last World Cup in India and last December in the Ashes at Adelaide where he was ruled out of the third test about 20 minutes before the toss with a vestibular issue, ‌the sensory system ‌located in the inner ear that controls balance and spatial orientation.