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Steve Smith threw his arms in the air and did a small lap of celebration.<\/p>\n
In the seemingly never-ending competition between Smith and Marnus Labuschagne, the former skipper had just thrown the stumps down and was jubilant.<\/p>\n
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Steve Smith has a break between net sessions.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Getty Images<\/cite><\/p>\n Under the beating Ahmedabad sun, with the temperature pushing into the mid-30s, Smith and Labuschagne were having yet another obsessive dual fielding a few metres apart at a faux backward point on the outfield of Narendra Modi Stadium, as white balls were slashed in their direction.<\/p>\n The desperation of their diving, gathering and throwing could have been centre stage on Saturday against England in their next World Cup clash, but this was just another training session on Thursday, like the hundreds they had done before. Except there is no such thing as just another training session for the Australians, or so it seems watching from close quarters.<\/p>\n It\u2019s as if the words of recently departed Australian football supercoach Ron Barassi are ringing in their ears almost half a century later: \u201cPractice makes perfect is bullshit!\u201d Barassi would snarl through clenched teeth. \u201cPerfect practice makes perfect.\u201d<\/p>\n Closer to the centre, Marcus Stoinis was charging up and down a practice pitch taking quick ones and twos, proving he had recovered from a slight calf strain that had kept him out of the past two games. Coaching staff were cheering him on like it was the Stawell Gift. Later, he slowly unwound with his lively seam bowling as the rest of the Australian attack joined him.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been spoken to about maybe training too much,\u201d said Stoinis, who has recently been hindered by minor quad and hamstring injuries before a \u201cnick\u201d in the calf appeared. \u201cThat\u2019s just part of, I guess, training, especially over here in India.<\/p>\n Marnus Labuschagne rehydrates at training.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>AP<\/cite><\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re got the facilities all the time, you\u2019ve got net bowlers. It\u2019s been part of how I train in the IPL, which has helped me a lot. So it\u2019s a mixture of a few things plus, probably, a bit of just enjoying it.\u201d<\/p>\n In the nets out the back of the stadium, those net bowlers appeared more like cannon fodder as Stoinis unleashed straight drives that made the sound of a sonic boom. The multitudes of unused net bowlers standing at the back of the nets would scatter in all directions.<\/p>\n Although he almost pinned a local official to the back of the net, offering a salient warning about focusing on phones in confined spaces. Not many of those net bowlers rolled their arm over, but they all dashed madly to surround players as they left the nets. Photos with players appear obligatory.<\/p>\n Before the Smith-Labuschagne field-off on Thursday, there appeared to be a bat-off on Wednesday night across from where Stoinis was unloading. Labuschagne lasted two hours and eight minutes with a few drinks breaks before sending down some leg-spinners and off-spinners to Smith, who showed scant regard for any magic Labuschagne may have had in his fingers.<\/p>\n Powered by hydrolyte-laden bottles of pink water, Smith batted beyond two and a half hours.<\/p>\n Marcus Stoinis\u2019 drives made the sound of a sonic boom.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Getty<\/cite><\/p>\n \u201cHe punishes himself if he doesn\u2019t perform,\u201d a squad member said as he wandered past. \u201cSometimes he does gym successions at 11pm.\u201d Smith has passed 50 just once in the tournament and his most recent score was 18.<\/p>\n When Smith had finally finished he gathered all his batting gloves in a string bag the size of a Santa sack and threw it over his shoulder.<\/p>\n \u201cHow many pairs did you use tonight?\u201d I asked as he walked past, a dripping bundle of perspiration. \u201cSeven,\u201d he replied, \u201cIt\u2019s pretty sweaty out here tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHow many pairs do you usually bring on tour?\u201d He stopped and thought for a moment. \u201cFifteen.\u201d<\/p>\n That Wednesday night session was hardly a one-off. The following day Smith was last out of the nets, again, as the training session pushed beyond three hours of fielding then batting. Coach Andrew McDonald\u2019s walk became a shuffle as he and batting coach Michael Di Venuto \u201cwanged\u201d down countless deliveries with cricket\u2019s version of a dog-ball thrower.<\/p>\n David Warner batted for two hours in the nets ahead of the Pakistan game then made 163.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>James Brickwood<\/cite><\/p>\n It contrasted with Warner, who came and went in 45-minutes after not training the previous day. Every session is optional, with players trusted to maximise their own preparation. It seems the more runs Warner makes, the less he bats at practice.<\/p>\n \u201cI batted for two hours before the Pakistan game,\u201d he said as we chatted beside the nets. Leading into the Pakistan game he had scores of 41, 13 and 11 and Australia had lost their first two matches, at one stage sitting on the bottom of the table.<\/p>\n Against Pakistan he made 163 from 124 balls and followed it with equally dynamic scores of 104 against the Netherlands and 81 against New Zealand. With a game in hand, Warner is fourth on the tournament\u2019s run table with 413 at an average of 69 and a strike rate of 113. Australia are now third on the table and searching for their fifth successive victory, which would put them within reach of the semi-finals.<\/p>\n Glenn Maxwell turned up on Thursday for some light run-throughs and a bat, clearly on the mend from the concussion he suffered in Monday\u2019s golf cart mishap. Players and support staff had Monday and Tuesday off given the week\u2019s break between the New Zealand match and Saturday\u2019s clash with England.<\/p>\n Despite suffering aches and illness, Adam Zampa is the second-highest wicket-taker in the World Cup.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Getty<\/cite><\/p>\n While about 20 players and staff played in a self-organised golf tournament, Adam Zampa, Josh Inglis and Sean Abbott, the only member of the squad not to play a match, stayed on in Dharamshala after the Kiwi game to go wandering in the Himalayas with family members. This is very Zampa, who has always been his own man.<\/p>\n That he had recovered well enough from early tour aches and then illness to go trekking is encouraging, as was his relatively rare bowling at practice on Thursday. Carrying a heavy load without a specialist second spinner, Zampa has been exceptional. He is the second-highest wicket-taker in the tournament with 16 and has a game in hand.<\/p>\n Without the explosive Maxwell and Mitch Marsh, who has flown home for family reasons, Australia will be tested by the bottom-placed England side desperate to make a belated impact as reigning champions. If Barassi was right, Australia appear perfectly prepared for the onslaught.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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