Follow UsSteve Smith missed out on the first Test of the three-match series against West Indies after he suffered a compound dislocation in one of his fingers during the World Test Championship (WTC) Final against South Africa in London.
Josh Inglis batted in his position at number four, but was not able to do much on a wicket where only Travis Head, Alex Carey and Beau Webster were able to hit fifties amongst the 22 players that batted for both sides.
Smith would return, most possibly, and bat at number four in the second Test at Grenada, Australia head coach Andrew McDonald informed the media on June 28 (Saturday).
"It's really about functionality around the finger rather than anything else. There'll be no risk to the long-term health of that finger. He'll return, and I think it's likely he'll play. Leading into the next game, he'll have the main session two days out,” McDonald said, giving updates on Smith’s health, who, instead of being with the team in Barbados for the first Test, had gone to New York to get proper treatment.
"He'll [also] train the day before [the match]. If all goes well, then I'd expect Steve to resume at No. 4,” added the former Australia and Victoria player.
Talking about the possibility of Smith moving up to number three to give Cameron Green some breathing space down the order, the coach denied any such change.
“We could slide him up higher if we wanted to. He's been excellent at number three. But I think if you look at the last 12 months at No. 4 and his ability to stabilise that position, two down, arguably our greatest batter, we want to keep him at four and build around that rather than potentially risking too many moves in the order,” he said.
Having won the Barbados Test by 159 runs, Australia will head to Grenada aiming to take an unassailable lead in the series, while hosts West Indies will look to make it 1-1 in the game starting July 3rd at St George’s Park.