Steve Smith on Sunday said the last three years have been the most challenging of his career, thanks to Kookaburra changing their ball in 2020 by adding extra lacquer on a reinforced seam.

“Since 2021 when they changed the Kookaburra ball, batting has definitely got more difficult, particularly at the same time wickets got greener as well. So it’s kind of like a perfect storm coming together,” Smith said.