Surprised by footage of his own animated leaves Steve Smith went to new lengths to clear his mind during the rain delays
Smith's oddities reach new level with bathtub nap
For a player with as many quirks as he has runs, it is perhaps unsurprising to learn the unusual method Steve Smith uses to clear his head before he expects to bat.
During Friday's rain delay that eventually led to the final two sessions of day three at Lord's washed out, Smith, who was unbeaten on 13, decided to ease his uneasiness by having a quick nap … in the bathtub.
"The day before I bat or I'm uncertain whether I'm going to bat that's usually when I'm at my worst," Smith told Wide World of Sports on Saturday.
"I had three days of that. I had a little bit of a kip in the bathtub yesterday during the rain break but actually slept OK last night which was good."
Smith revealed prior to the Ashes he has immense trouble sleeping during a Test match as he his mind calculates every possible scenario he might encounter.
"I am an awful sleeper," Smith told Sky Sports.
"In Test matches, I reckon I average 15 to 20 hours throughout the whole five days.
"It's all positive stuff – who's bowling at me, where I am going to hit them, how I'm going to play, where I'm going to look to score.
"I don't very often get many of those negative thoughts. When I do, I shut them out pretty quickly."
On the field, Smith's animated movements went to a new level at Lord's.
The way the right-hander leaves the ball – with an exaggerated swirl of his bat, hop, bounce and forceful call to the non-striker – sent social media into a meltdown.
Actually, I've gone back over the tape - and set it to The Final Countdown while editing in some reaction shots - and, actually, Steve Smith looks a lot like a Magician Named Gob... Featuring a bonus Steve Holt (STEVE HOLT!) #ADAshes 🔊 pic.twitter.com/LsbSqhaGtC— Vithushan Ehantharajah (@Vitu_E) August 16, 2019
But the most intriguing aspect of Smith's animated batting approach is how he has no idea he is doing it.
Smith is so focused on batting everything else is an automatic, subconscious reaction out of his control.
"Someone sent something around on the WhatsApp group last night with me dancing around," Smith said.
"I actually don't know I'm doing that kind of stuff.
"I know I'm a little bit eccentric but I didn't realise I'm doing it that bad."
2019 Qantas Ashes Tour of England
Australia squad: Tim Paine (c), Cameron Bancroft, Pat Cummins, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Michael Neser, James Pattinson, Peter Siddle, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade, David Warner.
England squad: Joe Root (c), Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Joe Denly, Jack Leach, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes (vc), Chris Woakes.
First Test: Australia beat England by 251 runs at Edgbaston
Second Test: August 14-18,Lord's
Third Test: August 22-26, Headingley
Tour match: Australians v Derbyshire, August 29-31
Fourth Test: September 4-8, Old Trafford
Fifth Test: September 12-16, The Oval