WI vs AUS: Steve Smith takes baby steps towards return as Cummins hints at his inclusion in second Test

Good news for Australia as Steve Smith has resumed batting practice after missing out on playing the first Test against West Indies, which the visitors won by 159 runs inside three days. Smith, who dislocated his right hand’s little finger while attempting to complete a slip against South Africa at Lord’s, flew to his home in New York to complete his rehab. However, following Australia's statement win in Barbados, Aussie captain Pat Cummins hinted at Smith’s inclusion in the side for the Grenada Test, starting next Thursday (Jul 3), saying his injury looks fine now and that he even had a net session in the US.

The latest reports suggest that Smith will join the squad in Bridgetown on Sunday (Jun 29) and, if declared fit, will return to the playing XI for the second Test. However, Smith still needs to tick off a few boxes before harbouring hopes of returning and strengthening Australia’s dodgy top order.

Cummins said firstly, they have to see how comfortable Smith is while batting with a split on his finger, and secondly, considering he needs to wear a protective covering for up to eight weeks following the compound dislocation, how well he is coping with that.

"He's had a few hits over in New York, which I think was with a tennis ball and an incredi-ball," Cummins said after Australia beat West Indies in the first Test "I think his wound is looking good, so the next stage is to come over here and hit some balls in the nets.”

"So, we'll know more over the next few days,” he continued.

Meanwhile, with no Marnus Labuschagne and Smith, Australia’s top four looked fragile against the West Indian quicks, failing to score runs across both innings. Although veteran batter Usman Khawaja did score a gritty 47 in the first innings despite getting dropped in the slips, none of the new-look top-order batters, including Cameron Green at three and Josh Inglis at four, helped the cause.

Cummins, however, threw weight behind his young lot of batters to learn from such games and use that experience to become better Test cricketers.

"You saw today how tricky a wicket that was, there weren't too many 50-run partnerships throughout the whole game," Cummins said. "Of course, the top order would like to score some more runs. The challenge of Test cricket, especially for young players, is when you get thrown different conditions, you've got to find a way to be effective.

"That's the challenge for our young batting group – if you presented that same wicket next week, would you do anything differently? Would you not?

"That will be the conversations over the next few days.

"But we back them in, and their prep leading in was excellent and the way they're talking about playing is really good, so we've got full confidence,” he concluded.

Meanwhile, Australia will fly to Grenada for the second Test on Monday (Jun 30) in what would be their first Test at the venue.