Smith experiments with NFL-style eye black for Gabba pink-ball Test; Khawaja leaves training early
Australia's acting captain Steve Smith is seriously considering the use of NFL-style eye black to reduce glare and see the pink ball better during the forthcoming Ashes Test at the Gabba.
Usman Khawaja, meanwhile, joined teammates in convening for their first session in Brisbane, but did not come out to bat and left the session early.
Smith donned the eye black strips on the sidelines of Australia's first training session before the Test that starts on Thursday, and batted with them for a long session against the pink ball sent down by coaches Andrew McDonald and Michael Di Venuto.
Veteran Australian batter Steve Smith with the eye black in the nets on Sunday.Credit: Channel Nine
Khawaja meanwhile did physio and some light fielding drills but did not put the pads on, leaving the session around 7pm to drive home. He typically bats for a meaty session two days out from a Test match.
Before training, Travis Head reiterated his willingness to keep opening the batting if the team required it, and said he agreed with captain Pat Cummins’ view that specialist batting positions were on the way out.
“I agree with Pat,” Head said. “I think you could use this order and these players in a range of different ways. I agree with Pat that they are slightly overrated, but traditionalists will say that is how it has got to be.
“That’s where the game is going, and when do you use that.”
Steve Smith with Marnus Labuschagne in Perth.Credit: Getty Images
Smith’s move reflects the challenge of picking up the pink ball under lights, but also his considerable influence from American sports, now that he calls Manhattan home.
Eye black was first tried in the 1930s by the legendary baseball slugger Babe Ruth, before it was picked up in the NFL by Andy Farkas during the 1940s.
It has since been a popular trademark for many NFL players, although studies of the measure's effectiveness have been mixed.
Some players have confessed they actually use it as a way of presenting a more warlike "game face" to the opposition, while others have been sanctioned by American football authorities for writing inappropriate messages over the top of the strips.
In cricket circles, eye black was also used by the West Indian batting stalwart Shivnarine Chanderpaul during the latter part of his career.
Former West Indies batter Shivnarine Chanderpaul in 2006.Credit: Getty Images
Australia have a mixed record in pink ball games at the Gabba, having lost here to the West Indies in 2024, thrashed Sri Lanka in 2019 and only narrowly defeated Pakistan in 2016.
“It is always a challenge batting under lights when the ball is new, it is always difficult,” Smith said before the 2024 pink ball game here.
“I find with the pink ball batting at night is probably easier to see the ball … in the day I find it more difficult to see.
“I feel like I’m batting well, and hopefully I can make some good decisions this week and get a total.”
Smith did not return from the United States until a couple of weeks before the first Ashes Test, as the national selectors gave him room to spend more time in his adopted home rather than playing every Sheffield Shield round for New South Wales.
“I’ve got pretty much two weeks before my first game, which is probably too much these days,” Smith said when he got back to Sydney.
“Honestly, it takes me two hits to get sorted. I feel like I’m ready to go now.
“I’ve had three hits since I’ve been back. Everything feels good. I’ve been training quite hard, been doing a lot of lifting, trying to get a bit stronger. I did all my strength tests yesterday, and they’re all as good as they’ve ever been.
“I feel like I certainly get drained mentally quicker than I probably used to. Ten years ago, I loved to come back and play every single game that I could. I know that when I play a lot at the start, by the end of the summer I’m pretty cooked mentally and probably can’t produce the same performances as I suppose I did last summer.”
