‘Last piece of the puzzle’; Watch continues on Steve Smith as champion battles neck complaint on eve of decider

Australia will continue to monitor the fitness of Steve Smith after delaying naming an XI until the morning of the series deciding Test against South Africa beginning in Cape Town on Tuesday.

The champion batter, who has had a testing tour after being hit in the head on the first Test before suffering a neck injury in Gqeberha, is the main concern for the Australians, who have already sent Nic Maddinson and Sam Harper back to Australia.

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Australian captain Pat Cummins said Smith, despite a less prolific tour than he and others had hoped, was in good spirits and appeared to be enjoying his time around the team as much as ever.

“Hopefully all goes well and he’ll be there. But we just want to wait for that kind of last piece of the puzzle,” Cummins said on Monday.

“He has been batting really well. Even in that first Test, that first innings, I thought he looked in total control until he found the outside edge on one ball. He looks, from just a teammate looking from afar, he looks in total control of how he is going about his work.

“He is huge. One of the greatest batters we have ever had. You don’t play 100 odd Test matches without playing Test matches where you weren’t 100 per cent fit, even though he is probably not going to be 100 per cent.

“But hopefully he can compartmentalise that, like he has done 100 times before with other things, and come out and contribute like he does every week.”

Smith’s fitness is one part of the jigsaw. The other key element is Marnus Labuschagne, who batted far later than usual in the nets on Sunday amid queries as to whether he will feature in the XI on Tuesday.

Cameron Green will play in this Test, but Cummins was coy when asked whether the Western Australian would be batting at No.3 or No.5.

Asked how the Australians would weigh the difference between Labuschagne or the lesser experienced Josh Inglis, Cummins said that as with all decisions, selectors were weighing up whether to “bring in a known quantity versus someone you’re not too sure about”.

“Both have positives to it,” he said.

“I think anywhere in the world, batting in the top three is really tough and Marnus is doing the hard work. He is facing quite a lot of balls and getting himself in. You think about all those things when you come up with a final XI.”

Nor is the batting order the only point of contention, with the Aussies weighing up whether Nathan Lyon returns to the team and who would make way for the champion off-spinner after Scott Boland’s superb performance in a losing team last week.

“There has normally been quite a lot of runs here and spin has played a little bit of a role, not huge, but we know Nathan’s class,” he said.

“If he comes in, he’s played here a few times. He controls the game really well. He can take top order wickets, lower order wickets.”

The Aussies, meanwhile, are returning to the scene of one of the Test side’s darkest moments, with Smith and Cummins among the quintet of players who were at Newlands when the sandpapergate saga unfolded.

But he said the return had not prompted much discussion among the tourists.

“Honestly, not really,” he said.

“I’ve played here a few times over the years and this is where I played my T20 debut, so I feel like a lot of the times when I travel around South Africa, it’s my debut tour that brings back a lot of memories, rather than the 2018 tour.

“Really, we haven’t spoken about it too much this week. Again, we’ve probably got a few reasons not to enjoy this venue, but every time we come here, it’s always, ‘Wow. What an amazing cricket ground.’ And we get excited for the week ahead.”