Smith's CPL cut short by injury

Steve Smith is heading back to Australia after sustaining a grade one abdominal tear in the Caribbean Premier League.

Smith played seven matches for the Tridents but was missing from their clash with St Lucia Stars, with Barbados Tridents coach Robin Singh and captain Jason Holder revealing the news pre-match.

"He had a slight tear and he had to go back, so it’s a really unfortunate situation," Singh said.

Holder said at the toss: "He's pulled an abdominal muscle so he's out for the rest of the tournament."

The injury, which cricket.com.au has since learned is a grade one tear with an expected recovery time of 7-10 days, should not prevent Smith's Premier Cricket return for Sutherland, scheduled for September 22 against Mosman at Glenn McGrath Oval in Caringbah.

Smith is set to link up with former Australia allrounder and Sydney Thunder captain Shane Watson for the clash, should he recover in time.

Signed as a replacement player for Bangladesh's Shakib Al Hasan, Smith scored 185 runs in seven innings for Barbados and put in a player-of-the-match performance in the Trident's win over Jamaica in Florida, scoring 63 and taking 2-19 with the ball.

The 29-year-old said after that match he's been working on his bowling during the T20 tournament by emulating Pakistan veteran Shahid Afridi.

"I've changed a few things – I'm trying to base my action off Shahid Afridi actually, and try and bowl quite fast and into the wicket," Smith said.

"There wasn't a heap of bounce on this wicket so you could almost hit that back-of-a-length and make them go across the line.

"Fortunately, it worked tonight."

Smith is around five months through his one-year suspension from international, state and BBL cricket. Once he returns, he is also banned from taking on any leadership roles for another 12 months.