With the Border-Gavaskar Trophy between Australia and India quickly approaching, the most pressing topic on everyone’s minds is whether Steve Smith will still start Test matches. Australia’s head coach Andrew McDonald has alluded to ongoing talks but has not committed to a final decision with the series scheduled to start on November 22.
With the retirement of David Warner, Steve Smith—one of the best batters in Test history—took over as number one. He hasn’t exactly been at his best in this new capacity, though. The experienced hitter has only scored 171 runs at an average of 28.50 in four Tests as an opener in 2024—a far cry from his career average of 56.97. Many observers question his job as an opener in light of this decline in form. McDonald recognised that Smith’s batting position has generated a lot of curiosity.
Isn’t that the question that’s on everyone’s mind? Although we’re keeping an eye on it, we haven’t decided on anything concrete yet. There is a lot of conjecture surrounding that. However, I would be lying if I claimed that the talk wasn’t taking place in the background. Regarding the upcoming Test summer, there are many hypothetical discussions,” McDonald told SEN.
Someone else will take the #1 spot if we switch places with Steve Smith: Andrew McDonald
In January of this year, he played his maiden game as an opener in Adelaide against the West Indies. Since then, Smith has only achieved one score of fifty or above, which raises questions about his aptitude for the position. McDonald made a suggestion that the top six batsmen in Australia—Smith, Usman Khawaja, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green, and Mitchell Marsh—would probably stay in the starting lineup for the India series despite these worries. But he also brought up the idea of switching up the sequence, pointing up Cameron Green’s accomplishment at position four.
It goes without saying that someone else will have to take the helm if we decide to work with Steve Smith. Cameron Green has also had a great deal of success in position four. Thus, that somewhat deepens the decision-making process. However, nothing is definite and set in stone right now,” the 43-year-old said.
The Sheffield Shield season, which begins on October 8, will be a significant factor in determining the ultimate makeup of the Test team. McDonald said that the management of the national team would let Greg Shipperd, the coach of New South Wales, know about their intentions so that they could evaluate Smith’s development in domestic cricket.
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“When Steve Smith plays Shield cricket, we’ll reveal everything and let (NSW coach) Greg Shipperd know what our plans are. Then, we’ll see what he does with his New South Wales side,” he said.
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