Steve Smith has been officially confirmed as Australia’s new Test opener by George Bailey, the chairman of selectors. Even though the selection panel chose Matt Renshaw to replace the outgoing David Warner in the Test squad to face West Indies, Smith has received the nod to bat up top.
As a result, Renshaw will only be a reserve batter as Bailey also confirmed the inclusion of Cameron Green in the playing XI. The allrounder boasts of an excellent record in first-class cricket at No.4 and is all set to bat in the same slot at the Test level as well.
Despite averaging over 60 at No.3 and No.4, Smith had recently expressed his desire to move up the order post Warner’s retirement. Even though skipper Pat Cummins wasn’t keen on reshuffling the batting order, Smith found backing from the likes of teammate Marnus Labuschagne and former captain Michael Clarke.
“Steve’s obviously motivated and energized and keen to do it,” Bailey said. “There were plenty within the team who were pretty keen to go on record and say that they weren’t keen to do it. So it was refreshing that Steve had come forward and said he wanted it and it was something that we’d been chatting about in the background as a selection panel with the coaches as well.
“It’s selfless that someone who’s had such success in one position or a couple of positions in the middle order that he’s open and willing and hungry to go and have a crack at something new and something different, which provides that opportunity to slot Cam into a position where he’s had so much success at first-class level and we think ultimately, is a great spot for him to be in the Test team.”
While there were calls from several quarters for Cameron Bancroft to be picked as Warner’s replacement after he topped the run charts in the Sheffield Shield, the selection panel has opted for the flexibility of Renshaw who has batted in different positions so far in his first-class career. He recently hit an unbeaten 136 against Pakistan in a tour game as well and his last appearance for the national team came in the Border Gavaskar Trophy in India.
“I think ultimately you can mount statistically some strong cases for a number of players,” Bailey noted. “As it currently stands, the panel sees Matt Renshaw is our next best batter. We’ve gone back 18 months or so and I think if you take into account all first-class cricket I think across that time, those guys have played Shield cricket, some county cricket, some Australia A cricket, and PM’s XI games. Matthew’s played a couple of Tests in Australia and in India across that period and his numbers stack up as well as anyone’s across that time.”
Apart from Renshaw, Australia will also welcome back Scott Boland in their 13-man squad for the first Test against West Indies in Adelaide. Boland was recently released ahead of the Sydney Test against Pakistan in order to feature in the BBL.
