Australian batter Steve Smith has been ruled out of selection until the home Test series against New Zealand in December after scans confirmed a cervical facet joint injury in his neck.Cricket Australia revealed the extent of Smith’s injury after he was forced to withdraw from the third Test against South Africa in Cape Town, which began on Tuesday. The 37-year-old experienced neck pain on the fourth day of the second Test in Gqeberha last week and was subsequently ruled unfit for the series decider.“Steve Smith developed neck pain on day four of the second Test in Gqeberha last week,” Cricket Australia said in a statement.“Subsequent MRI imaging confirmed a cervical facet joint injury. Due to this and his limited range of motion, he was unfit to participate in the current Test.”Smith will continue with treatment and rehabilitation, with Australia expecting him to be available again for the New Zealand series at home in December.“Steve will continue to receive treatment and rehabilitation, with a full return to availability anticipated for the upcoming home Test series against New Zealand,” the statement added.
Inglis makes an immediate impact
In Smith’s absence, Josh Inglis was brought into the side and made the most of his opportunity, scoring an unbeaten 85 as Australia reached 330/4 in reply to South Africa’s first-innings total of 329. The hosts held a slender one-run lead at the close.Matt Renshaw contributed 74, while Cameron Green scored 65 and Alex Carey remained unbeaten on 51. Marnus Labuschagne, however, endured another disappointing outing, departing for a duck.South Africa had earlier been bowled out for 329 after Australia elected to field first. Aiden Markram scored 78, Marques Ackermann made 95 and Marco Jansen added 52 before Mitchell Starc claimed six wickets for 72 runs to wrap up the innings.The Cape Town Test marked Inglis’ first appearance in the longest format since he played against England in Adelaide during the Ashes series at the end of last year.Renshaw praised his team-mate’s response after Australia lost two quick wickets, saying Inglis’ positive approach had helped the side regain momentum.“He is a very talented player, we have seen that across a lot of the white-ball formats,” Renshaw said.“To come in today, we were under a little bit of pressure, having lost two quick wickets, and the way that he played was really positive – it was a very Josh innings, and I think it was really what we needed at that time,” he added.