NEWS
Follow UsAustralia head coach Andrew McDonald said there’s no guarantee Steven Smith will open the batting in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, starting on November 22 in Perth. McDonald said the team management have had some discussions but nothing is confirmed yet.
After David Warner’s retirement from Test cricket, Smith moved to the top of the order from his regular spot at number four, where he has had lukewarm results.
Barring an unbeaten 91 in the second innings of the Gabba Test against the West Indies, Smith has managed scores of 11, 9, 31, 0, 6, 12 and 11* in the remaining seven innings. Overall, the right-hander has an average of 28.5 as an opener in four Tests.
"That’s the question on everyone’s lips, isn’t it? While we’ve got an eye to it, we haven’t made any firm decisions around that one,” McDonald told SEN radio when asked where Smith would bat in the blockbuster five-match Test series against India.
"There’s plenty of speculation around that, but in the background, I’d be lying if I said that conversation wasn’t happening.
"Clearly, Patty Cummins, as the captain, is a big part of that … we’ve already had some chats in Sydney initially around what we’re thinking for the summer, and that goes right down to depth bowling and all those hypotheticals and ‘what-ifs’ that we always go through.
"Clearly, if we make a shift with Steve Smith, then someone else will have to go to the top. We've seen Cameron Green be really successful at number four as well. So that adds layers to the decision-making. But nothing is firm and fixed at the moment."
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If that happens, one of the other batters will have to move up, or someone from the middle-order will have to be left out to bring in another opener.
"Clearly, there’s a few other selectors, and I don’t want to sort of influence the decision-making or thinking of George Bailey. But we’ve spoken about that, and we’re still a big believer in the best six batters [playing].
"We feel as though that the team that finished in New Zealand, should they get a clean run at it and be well prepared, then they would be the best-placed players to fill that, there’s no doubt about that."
Australia have lost their last four Test series against India, including two at home (2018-19 and 2020-21). McDonald didn’t shy away from accepting that the entire focus will be on the big Test series and as a result, some of the players could miss the six-game home white-ball series against Pakistan and play in the Sheffield Shield instead.
"A lot of our priorities will be geared around that [India series]. You'll see that unfold with the management of our players [which] will be very pointed around who does what in terms of Shield cricket coming into the summer to make sure that they are ready for that first Test match.
"So we may have to give up a little bit in terms of that Pakistan white-ball series with certain players to make sure that we are firmly prepared. We've got some fast bowlers that have been really good at preparing for Test cricket off the back of one-day cricket.
"We saw with Cameron Green last year, we released him back to Shield cricket down at Hobart, and he got a hundred there leading into the New Zealand series.
"It's really case by case and where players are at. Clearly, if they have a setback here or there, then their plan will change. At the moment, we've got some long-term planning, but like most of our long-term planning, it does shift."
Australia are currently in England, where they will be playing three T20Is and five ODIs.
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