Australia star Steve Smith has opened up about his struggle with vertigo, which forced him to miss the third Ashes Test against England in Adelaide. The 36-year-old batter, who has previously experienced similar symptoms, was replaced by Usman Khawaja for the match but will return to captain Australia in the fourth Test in Melbourne.
Smith described the difficulties he faced leading up to the Adelaide Test, admitting he was unable to track the ball properly and felt unwell during practice sessions.
“As soon as I started batting in Adelaide, I didn’t feel great, wasn’t tracking the ball well, had a bit of head stuff going on. Three days out, hit again, played golf that afternoon. I’d already spoken to Ron [coach Andrew McDonald] and was like ‘I don’t feel great’, so he goes ‘just try to get out and do some things and see how it goes,’” Smith told The Age on Wednesday.
“So I played that afternoon, felt awful that night. I felt terrible the next day, didn’t hit or do much. Then I hit the next morning and felt ordinary again. I tried the next day, morning of the game and I just wasn’t I couldn’t track the ball. Felt dizzy. When I had my head back and come up (to face), I needed to recalibrate every time my head came up, it was all over the place, and in the end we made the right decision."
“I felt awful that day. And playing in that heat wasn’t going to help me – those first two days were bloody hot. So, yeah, I sort of got to the decision, which was the right one, although I think I would’ve liked to bat on that wicket,” he added.
Smith shared his history with similar problems
Smith linked his current vertigo episode to previous head injuries, including a concussion sustained during a T20I against Sri Lanka in 2022. He explained how he is managing the condition through specialised exercises and equipment.
“I’ve had a few different things with my head in the past, head knocks, some vestibular stuff, some vertigo stuff. It was more the vestibular stuff this time. It wasn’t the room spinning with the vertigo, which I’ve had previously, but it’s the eye-tracking and not being able to focus on things, particularly moving targets.
“I felt really slow, really heavy in the head, tightness in the neck and not much fun. I’m still talking to people about it. I’ve got some training exercises I need to do, tracking things, wearing goggles with a laser on it, drawing different shapes and things like that. So it’ll be a bit of that, strengthening my neck. Fingers crossed it’s gone and never comes back. That would be nice,” added Smith.
Meanwhile, despite Smith’s absence, Australia had no difficulty in registering a comfortable 82-run win in the third Test at Adelaide. Travis Head played a match-winning 170-run innings and got the job done for the hosts.