Open and shut: Smith to return to No.4 Test batting spot

by Admin
October 14, 2024

Steve Smith will return to the middle order of Australia’s Test team this summer in a move that could open the door for Cam Bancroft’s return, national selection chair George Bailey has confirmed.

The former Test captain has told selectors he does not want to open the batting anymore, after doing it four times last summer, and Cam Green’s back injury will mean he can slide back down to No.4.

The short-lived experiment was part of a move to bring Green back into the team last summer.

In a press conference on Monday, Bailey strongly suggested they will pick a specialist batter — likely an opener — for the five-Test Border Gavaskar Trophy series against India.

“Pat, Andrew (McDonald) and Steven Smith have been having ongoing discussions, separate to the untimely injury to Cameron, anyway and I think Steve had expressed a desire to move back down from that opening position,” he said.

“Pat and Andrew have confirmed that he will be dropping back down the order for the summer.

“Clearly we will have a No.4 spot to fill and an opening spot to fill.”

It means they will back in the big three quicks of Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood, plus Nathan Lyon and Mitch Marsh, to carry the bowling loads in the crucial series.

Bailey said it was a “luxury” having an all-rounder in the side, despite concerns the ageing attack could be stretched across five matches.

“Even looking at the three quicks that we generally play in Test cricket they have played a lot of Test cricket together where they haven’t had an all-rounder as well,” he said.

“The role that Cam and Mitch have played is that they’ve been able to hold down a spot purely on the back of their batting and that’s still fundamentally what’s most important in that top six.

“Again this summer we will be prepared that if we do need to make some adjustments throughout the summer (to the fast-bowlers) we will be ready to go.”

That call dents the hopes of all-rounders Beau Webster and Aaron Hardie.

Marsh was held back from bowling in WA’s shield draw with Queensland last week, but could return to the crease as soon as next week’s clash with Tasmania with an eye towards the Test summer.

It was confirmed on Monday morning Green will be sent for surgery on his back that will rule him out of all cricket for around six months.

Australian allrounder Cameron Green has opted to have surgery on his troublesome back. (Jono Searle/AAP PHOTOS) Credit: AAP

Green and Cricket Australia staff came to an agreement on the decision to have surgery, Bailey said, across two weeks of discussions since he returned home early from a white-ball tour of England. Bailey said there was “no angst” in the process.

Bancroft was named alongside fellow Test hopefuls Marcus Harris and Sam Konstas for a two-match Australia A series against India A starting later this month.

Bailey said there was “no harm done” to Bancroft’s hopes by a rare pair during this week’s Sheffield Shield match with Queensland and confirmed they had spoken post-match.

The selection chair also said Bulls opener Matt Renshaw missing selection in that team does not mean he is out of the race and also floated Nic Maddinson, Peter Handscomb as players they are watching closely.

There was no room for WA red-ball captain Sam Whiteman in the A squad, despite two dominant seasons at first-class level.

Bancroft was dismissed twice for a duck caught-behind of Michael Neser, who is in Test calculations himself this summer.

“I spoke to Cam after that game and sort of jokingly said to him maybe he’s in such good nick he might have played and missed at those as well,” Bailey said.

Cam Bancroft. Credit: Paul Kane/Getty Images

“That might be a really good sign for the rest of the summer. There’s plenty of batsmen that have managed to get an early feather on a Michael Neser ball.

“No harm done, he has certainly got credits in the bank, his consistency over a number of years has been phenomenal, as has a number of those other players I have mentioned.

“A one-off game like that wasn’t going to have any impact.”

At just 19, Konstas — a near clone of Michael Clarke — became the youngest player since Ricky Ponting to score two centuries in one shield match .

But Bailey said they were wary of throwing him in at the deep end after he bolted into the Australia A side.

“I don’t know if we’d ever throw someone into the deep end so to speak, I think if we make a selection it’s because that we think that player is ready to play — or not going to sink, using that analogy,” he said.

NSW teen Sam Konstas. Credit: AAP

“He has had a good start, he is five games into his first-class career and he looks really organised and composed at the crease.

“It’s good recognition that he’s been given the opportunity to play Australia A but I don’t think it’s taking your eye off how consistent your Cam Bancrofts or Marcus Harris have been.”

Australia A will meet India A in Mackay from October 31 and at the MCG a week later.

A one-day international squad for a series against Pakistan next month has also been confirmed.

West Aussie Mitch Marsh will sit out that series for the birth of his first child, but Cooper Connolly has retained his place in the side that toured the United Kingdom.

Cummins will captain the side, with Starc and Hazlewood also named. Sean Abbott is the back-up quick.

Alex Carey has missed the squad, guaranteeing Josh Inglis a role with the gloves, despite the pair playing alongside each other in England last month.

Excitement machine Jake Fraser-McGurk has been included.