'The Test: A New Era for Australia's Team' Episode 6: Smith and Warner's psyche explored after their return to national side
This article contains spoilers for 'The Test: A New Era for Australia's Team' Episode 6: 'Fearless'
For the first time after five episodes, the staggering docuseries moves its focus on Australia's two prodigal sons — Steven Smith and David Warner. The scene shifts to the team prepping for the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup and in the team meeting are Warner and Smith. Warner, with the Wolverine-styled beard, and Smith, a more-leaned out version, voice their thoughts when the squad welcomed them with open arms.
Just a year before, the duo was on the front page of almost every Australian paper for the infamous ball-tampering scandal. Every second of their public appearance came under intense scrutiny and the end result was a harsh call with both of them, including Cameron Bancroft, were banned from playing for the country for a year.
'Fearless' answered the one question: Did these two players lose a bit of their edge during that long break?
And their World Cup campaign answered the question. Smith and Warner were vital cogs in Australia's journey to the semifinal. Their last group game against South Africa was an aberration, but their semis scrimmage against England was a thorough disaster.
'Fearless' also sheds light on the thoughts of Ricky Ponting and Justin Langer when they see Smith and Warner booed and heckled in England. "At different times, probably both [Langer] of us had to hold each other back from not jumping over the fence and getting in amongst the crowd and shutting a few of them up, to be honest," says Ponting.
For Warner, the bigger challenge wasn't really the hostile crowd reception, but the way he went about his batting. After virtually no competitive international cricket for a year, the swashbuckling left-hander was rusty, out of touch and had somehow managed to develop a twinge of uncertainty. "I was scared of getting out," he admits.
While the episode also addresses Australia's decent World Cup campaign, the spotlight firmly remains on Warner and Smith, their return to the Aussie cricket camp and their impact on the team in the sport's greatest event.
There's also a bit of a joke that goes around the Australian dressing room. Steve Smith is just weird. Langer recalls the time when Smith would just shadow bat everywhere — the lunchroom while walking, talking and the man just can't sit still. Nathan Lyon, the team's off-spinner, narrates a story of how Smith started shadow batting in a pub once.
'Fearless' is probably one of the most important episodes in 'The Test'. It's a chapter that shows the rise of the new and improved Team Australia.
'The Test: A New Era for Australia's Team' is now available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video.