Steven Smith has consulted a specialist in New York about the neck problem that ruled him out of the final Test against South Africa and it is hoped that he will be available to play for New South Wales against Queensland in the Sheffield Shield later this month ahead of the New Zealand Test series.
Smith was diagnosed with an injury to his cervical facet joint after initially feeling pain during the second Test at St George's Park, which saw him slip down the order in the second innings. There was broad confidence within the Australia camp that he would be fit for the decider at Newlands but following a nerve-block injection on the morning of the game it was ruled he wouldn't be able to get through the Test.
While the rest of the squad returned straight to Australia after the series, Smith went on a break to New York where he owns an apartment and spends considerable time. He is expected to head back to Sydney next week.
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"Just chatting to him in New York, he's had some specialist appointments there and some progress, I think, in terms of getting to the root of what might have been causing him some trouble in South Africa," chair of selectors George Bailey told reporters on Monday. "So hopefully that continues to trend in the right direction. His plan is he'll… be available for Shield [round] five."
Smith's neck injury completed a difficult tour of South Africa where he made 83 runs in four innings and also suffered a concussion scare in Durban. In recent days, there have also been the headlines created by Usman Khawaja's autobiography, which has reignited the ball-tampering scandal from 2018.
However, while Smith has consistently stated in recent times that his Test career is a series-by-series prospect, Bailey said he had no indications anything would hasten a retirement call and that he was planning for Smith to be available for next year's India and England tours.
"Yeah, absolutely," Bailey said. "I certainly haven't had any discussions with him to suggest otherwise. And as I said, the information that he shared from New York post those specialist updates are positive.
"And I think Ronnie [head coach Andrew McDonald] touched on this in trying to get to the bottom of what causes it and if it happens again, how quickly can we find a remedy that can get on top of it and get him back on the park. But he's an absolutely quality player and we're a better team with him in it… and he's been on record as saying that he takes that on a series-by-series basis and I don't think that's uncommon for players of his age.
"He has probably been asked about it more specifically than a lot of others. But for someone who's achieved a hell of a lot and I still can see him achieving a hell of a lot more. I think we've got some pretty exciting series coming up. Yeah, I'm confident he'll be a very important part of them."