(CNN) — The chunk crunched against the Australian cricketer’s forearm. Shortly afterwards, a second windmill into Steve Smith’s throat just beneath his left ear — poleaxing the Aussie batsman.
Unflappable, unwavering and unflustered — since he was during this Ashes series — Smith had appeared on course for tis third straight century on Saturday earlier, under a murky, gray skies, England fast bowler Jofra Archer began to unsettle the 30-year-old Australian.
Throughout a fiery spell that featured a delivery clocked at 96mph, Archer and Smith moved toe-to-toe like a couple of heavyweight fighters at a competition that had audiences gripped.
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A race to become fit
Scans later showed no fracture on to Smith’s arm but the 92mph bouncer which cannoned to the Australian’s neck turned out to have had a more lasting impact.
Back in the living area, Smith was initially put through routine tests by Australian staff physician Richard Saw, along with the batsman returned to the game on Saturday before finally being disregarded for 92.
But, following the close of play on Saturday, Smith complained of headaches and has been then ruled out of the remainder of the match on Sunday — Marnus Labuschagne becoming the first concussion substitute in a Test.
The third Test begins on Thursday at Leeds, however the 30-year-old Australian won’t be racing his return.
“It is obviously a fast turnaround between Test matches,” Smith said on Sunday.
“I’m likely to be assessed over the following five or five weeks, every day a few times, to observe how I am feeling and how I’m progressing.
“I’m hopeful I’ll be available for this Exam game, but it is definitely up to the health team and we will have conversations.
“It is definitely an area of concern, concussion, and I need to be 100% fit. I’ve got to have the ability to train a couple of days out and face fast bowling to make sure my response time is in place.”
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A dark reminder
The sight of an Australian batsmen lying on the ground having been hit by a baseball ball brought back some upsetting memories for Australian cricket.
At 2014, Australian batsman Phillip Hughes died aged 25, two days after being struck in the head with a ball when batting at a domestic game.
Following Hughes’ dreadful death, changes were made to further protect batsmen, with stem guards made and made optional for players to wear on their helmets.
After initially not feeling comfortable playing with the guards on his helmet, Smith considers he might have to rethink his stance on them after this recent incident.
“I think I, along with a couple other players in the group, find it a little bit different, uncomfortable in contrast to what we are utilized to,” he explained.
“I believe a tiny bit claustrophobic as it is on. I feel like I am enclosed rather than too comfortable.
“It’s definitely something I need to most likely take a look in and perhaps try from the baits and see if I can get a way to get comfortable with it.”
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The Right Choice
Research completed by Cricket Australia indicates that postponed concussion — where symptoms don’t develop until a few hours after the first blow — happen in approximately 30% of cases.
At the next Test at Lord’s, three players had been struck on the mind and Smith was the only player to suffer a concussion.
And given just around 20% of mind influences in cricket lead to a concussion, Alex Kountouris, Cricket Australia’s manager of sport medicine, believes removing a participant from the game each time they had been struck in the head could be unnecessary.
“The fact is simply about one in five or six head impacts wind up in concussion,” Kountouris said in a press conference in Australia on Monday.
“When we pulled out each player who had a head effect, we would be pulling out 80 percent of players that don’t possess a concussion and carrying them from the game. So that would be an overreaction.
“If you take a look at that game, there were three other mind impacts and just Steve needed a concussion.
“He did not have a concussion at the time (he had been struck ) so that he was allowed to play. When we took him from the match, we’d have been leaving him out of the game without any reason other than what we found on the area.”
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Following protocols
Kountouris also stated he was”100 percent” satisfied by Dr. Saw’s therapy of Smith.
“At the close of the day, our physician pulled him out of day five of the Test match, that was a pretty critical area of the match,” he explained.
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“Our physician is an expert in his area, he’s trained to pick up the slight signs of concussion.
“(He) has been brilliant. Everything he did was according to the protocol, he had been very comprehensive, and we understand he’s very comprehensive. We are 100% happy with what happened around.”
Australian direct the series 1-0.

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