Steve Smith makes bizarre revelation about Test teammate after heartbreaking near-miss

Steve Smith has shared how Josh Hazlewood inadvertently impacted his focus, leaving him just one run shy of the coveted 10,000-run milestone in Test cricket during the Sydney Test. Smith required 38 runs in the SCG Test against India to join the elite group of Australian players — Ricky Ponting, Allan Border, and Steve Waugh — who have reached the landmark.

After scoring 33 in the first innings, he needed just five more in the second. However, he was dismissed for four in agonising fashion, leaving him stranded on 9,999 runs. While Smith is certain to surpass the milestone in the upcoming first Test against Sri Lanka later this month, missing the chance to achieve it at home in Sydney was a disappointment.

Reflecting on the moment during an interview on SEN radio, Smith revealed how Hazlewood's shirt number unintentionally got into his head.

"It would have been good to do it in front of all my friends and family," Smith admitted, with wife Dani visibly disheartened for him. "I don't read too much into stats and stuff but 10,000 is a bit of a different beast.

"Normally I don't buy into any of that stuff, but pre-game I was doing lots of media because I was approaching that mark. So I knew I needed 38, and all I could think about when I was trying to sleep at night was the back of Josh Hazlewood's shirt because he's No.38.

"So it was probably playing on my mind more than any other game I've ever played, so that was a bit of a shame... I had a horrific week of sleep. It wasn't good at all. But thankfully we won that game and the series and it didn't matter too much, and we'll keep moving forward."

Smith, known for his struggles with sleep, often gets just two or three hours a night during Test matches. His superstitious nature likely made the thought of Hazlewood's No.38 all the more difficult to shake.

"I probably let it (my mind) wander too much throughout the game," Smith said last week. "There's only been a handful of people that had done it. It shows the longevity and consistency in the game. It'll be a cool one to tick off ... hopefully first innings in Galle (from 29 January)."

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