Australia National Cricket Team batting superstar Steve Smith is working hard to recover from the neck injury that forced him to miss the third and final Test against South Africa. Steve Smith recently visited a specialist in New York to find the exact reason behind his neck problem and get the right treatment.

The Australian team is hopeful that Steve Smith will recover in time to play for New South Wales against Queensland in the fifth round of the Sheffield Shield later this month. His return will be important for Australia as they prepare for the upcoming Test series against New Zealand.

Steve Smith receives major injury update after New York specialist visit

Steve Smith suffered a neck problem during the second Test against South Africa at St. George's Park. The experienced batter was diagnosed with an injury to his cervical facet joint, which affected his movement and forced him to bat lower down the order in the second innings.

Australia initially expected him to recover in time for the final Test at Newlands. However, even after receiving a nerve-block injection on the morning of the match, he was not fit enough to play. While the rest of the Australian squad returned home after the South Africa series, Smith travelled to New York, where he owns an apartment and spends a lot of time.

He is expected to return to Sydney next week. Australia's chief selector George Bailey has shared positive news about Smith's recovery after his specialist appointments in New York. The team is hopeful that he will be available for the next Sheffield Shield round.

George Bailey told reporters, as quoted by Cricinfo, "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. So hopefully that continues to trend in the right direction. His plan is he'll… be available for Shield [round] five.”

George Bailey breaks silence on Steve Smith's retirement plans

Steve Smith had a forgettable tour of South Africa, scoring just 83 runs in four innings. He also faced a concussion scare in Durban. Meanwhile, Usman Khawaja's autobiography has recently brought back Australia's 2018 ball-tampering scandal.

However, Bailey has hinted that Smith is not planning to retire from Test cricket anytime soon. Although the batter has previously said that he takes his career series by series, the team expects him to remain an important part of its future plans.

Bailey also hinted that Australia is looking forward to having Smith available for next year's tours of India and England. The chief selector added, “Yeah, absolutely. I certainly haven't had any discussions with him to suggest otherwise. And as I said, the information that he shared from New York posts those specialist updates are positive.

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.” Read Also: Marnus Labuschagne dropped from New Zealand Tests after South Africa horror show.

Bailey makes huge prediction on Smith's future

The former batter also believes that Smith still has plenty of cricket left and can make a big contribution to the team. Bailey signed off by saying. “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.”