{"id":9983,"date":"2025-12-17T04:35:21","date_gmt":"2025-12-16T23:05:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/?p=672283"},"modified":"2025-12-17T04:37:04","modified_gmt":"2025-12-16T23:07:04","slug":"watch-video-ashes-3rd-test-steve-smith-seen-leaving-the-ground-heres-what-really-happened","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/cricket\/watch-video-ashes-3rd-test-steve-smith-seen-leaving-the-ground-heres-what-really-happened\/","title":{"rendered":"[WATCH VIDEO] Ashes 3rd Test: Steve Smith seen leaving the ground \u2013 here\u2019s what really happened"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Confusion briefly surrounded Australia\u2019s team combination ahead of the third Ashes Test at Adelaide Oval after <strong>Steve Smith was seen leaving the ground shortly before the toss<\/strong>, triggering speculation about a late withdrawal.<\/p>\n<p>BBC commentator Alison Mitchell first flagged the development on X, posting that Smith had crossed the outfield from the dressing room with a rucksack and team security, appearing to leave the venue. With the toss approaching, questions immediately arose over whether Australia were set for an 11th-hour change.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Steve Smith reportedly out of the Adelaide Test after being concussed in training!<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/19RRq92CP1\">pic.twitter.com\/19RRq92CP1<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Toby Forage \ud83e\udd19 (@foraggio) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/foraggio\/status\/2001061724368330944?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 16, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The uncertainty deepened after former Australia spinner Kerry O\u2019Keefe revealed on Kayo Sports that Smith had held a <strong>long discussion with captain Pat Cummins regarding his fitness<\/strong>. O\u2019Keefe suggested Smith had walked away \u201cdisconsolate\u201d and added that there were <strong>unconfirmed reports of Smith being struck on the head during training<\/strong>, raising the possibility of a concussion-related issue.<\/p>\n<p>However, clarity arrived soon after the toss.<\/p>\n<p>Australia <strong>won the toss and elected to bat<\/strong>, and Cummins addressed the situation directly. The skipper confirmed that <strong>Smith had been feeling unwell for the past couple of days<\/strong>, which explained his early departure from the ground. As a precaution, Smith was left out of the playing XI for the third Test.<\/p>\n<p>Cummins also confirmed a reshuffle in the batting order, with <strong>Usman Khawaja returning to the XI and batting at No. 4<\/strong> in Smith\u2019s absence.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are going to bat first. The wicket looks good, the sun is out. You don\u2019t get too funky. Steve has been feeling a little bit unwell the last couple of days. Uzzie will bat at four,\u201d Cummins said at the toss.<\/p>\n<p>The development marks a significant late change for Australia, with Smith\u2019s absence a rare one in an Ashes Test. While initial concerns centred around a potential head knock, the team management clarified that illness was the deciding factor behind the call.<\/p>\n<p>Australia, leading the series 2\u20130, will now look to press home their advantage in Adelaide despite missing one of their most experienced batters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Confusion briefly surrounded Australia\u2019s team combination ahead of the third Ashes Test at Adelaide Oval after Steve Smith was seen\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":250,"featured_media":32497,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cricket"],"reading_time":"2 min read","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9983","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/250"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9983"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9983\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}