Steven Smith's first thought was of Phillip Hughes

In the seconds after he was struck on the neck by a ball from Jofra Archer at Lord's, Steven Smith has revealed his very first thoughts were of the death of his teammate Phillip Hughes almost five years ago.

Smith did not play in the 2014 Sheffield Shield match at the SCG when Hughes also took a blow to the neck with tragic consequences, but could not escape an immediate flashback to that eerily similar moment before he was able to rise to his feet again.

"I had a few things running through my head, particularly where I got hit, just a bit of past came up, if you know what I mean, from a few years ago," said Smith, speaking with media after the third Test in Leeds. "That was probably the first thing I thought about.

"Then I was like, 'I'm okay here,' and I was alright. I was a little bit sad but I was alright mentally for the rest of that afternoon."