Cricket Australia have announced that Steve Smith will not be playing the remainder of the second Ashes test against England, due to a delayed concussion. He will be substituted by all-rounder Marnus Labuschagne, who becomes the first like-for-like concussion substitute since the ICC introduced new rules on August 1.
On the fourth day of the second Test against England, Smith was hit in the neck by a bouncer by Joffrey Archer, forcing him to retire hurt. He returned to bat 40 minutes later and scored 12 runs before getting dismissed by Chris Woakes.
Medical staff monitored Smith overnight. According to Cricket Australia, “He slept well but woke up with a bit of a headache and feeling of grogginess."
"As part of the Cricket Australia concussion protocol, repeat testing was performed this morning and demonstrated some deterioration, which is consistent with the emergence of the symptoms he was reporting. On that basis, he has been withdrawn from the match," said the statement.
Smith’s availability for the next text is being considered, but a “short turnaround” is not in his favour according to the statement. “He will be assessed on an ongoing basis and will have a precautionary scan on his neck on Sunday," said Cricket Australia.
At lunchtime of day 5, England were leading by 165 runs with four wickets down.
