Steve Smith has opened up on the cheeky text message he sent Usman Khawaja to break the news he’d join him at the top of the Australian batting order.

Meanwhile, West Indies coach Andre Coley has pitched a radical suggestion to international cricket powerbrokers to save the Test format globally.

Steve Smith has revealed the contents of a text message he sent to new opening partner Usman Khawaja after it was confirmed the former Aussie skipper would replace David Warner at the top of the order.

Smith said he asked Khawaja who should face the first ball in Australia’s first innings for their upcoming Test against the West Indies at the Adelaide Oval.

“I randomly sent him a message, I don’t think he knew I was opening yet and I said, ‘Do you want the first one or should I take it?’. He sent back, ‘Opening?’, and was like, ‘Yeah, I’m in’,” Smith revealed to SEN.

Smith said that his name only began to be considered as Warner’s replacement after the completion of the Sydney Test against Pakistan. Within just a few days, Smith’s shift up the order was confirmed by head selector George Bailey.

“I’ve sort of been saying it for a little while but probably not taken as seriously as I was coming across until about a week ago,” Smith said.

“I thought we’ve got a good player in Cameron Green who has been sitting on the sidelines. Someone that is suited to bat in the middle.

“Then from my point of view, I’ve been sitting there waiting at number four to bat for a long period of time and I’m keen to just get out there and play. I said I’m keen to get up there, face the new ball and get amongst it.

“We had those conversations after the last game in Sydney and here we landed.

“I chatted to ‘Ron’ (coach Andrew McDonald) and Patty (Cummins) and said I’m keen, I’m interested to have a new challenge up top.

“I’m not foreign to the new ball, a lot of the time I’ve actually batted my best when I’ve come in really early.

“The 2019 Ashes is a prime example of that. I was basically opening the batting there so it’s nothing foreign, it’s something I enjoy and I was keen to get up there.”

Shortly after his new role in the side was confirmed, Smith opened the batting for BBL side Sydney Sixers, but flamed out with a golden duck.

Smith joked to Khawaja after that effort, that he probably shouldn’t face the first pill.

“We actually haven’t decided who is taking the first one yet, but after I got out first ball the other night (in the BBL) I was like ‘Uz, maybe you should take it’”, he revealed.

“We’re not fussed. It doesn’t matter when you face your first ball, whether you’re opening or batting at four or whatever, it’s all the same.”

However, he’s also keen to take advantage of some of the pros of opening, which include trying to expose attacking fields seen early in an innings.

“It’s pretty game, I suppose, with a brand new ball; bowling short stuff and wasting it,” Smith told reporters at the Adelaide Oval.

“I think it helps the scoring rate for sure when you’re facing the new ball and there’s a bit more attacking going on.

“Over the last few years I’ve come in after quite a lot of runs, the ball is a bit softer, you have a cover in and maybe four on the leg side and guys are bowling straight and able to control the scoreboard a little bit more.

“That’s probably kept me quieter and made me face a lot more balls to score runs. So perhaps that changes a bit with the new ball, you have a bit more attacking fields and more gaps out there to score runs.”
WINDIES’ COACH’S SUGGESTION TO SAVE TEST CRICKET WORLDWIDE

The West Indies will unveil a largely inexperienced side for the first Test against Australia at the Adelaide Oval, with many players prioritising richer domestic cricket leagues elsewhere, forcing coach Andre Coley to pitch a radical suggestion to save the Test format.

The tourists will be without former captain Jason Holder and gun all-rounder Kyle Mayers for the two-match series, with the West Indies bringing seven uncapped players to Australia.

Holder has elected to miss the series to prepare for next year’s T20 World Cup while Mayers will be in South Africa to feature in a T20 competition called SA20.

It begs the question whether there is enough incentive for West Indian players to choose Test matches over other profitable options on the calandar.

In an interview with the Herald Sun, Coley has “concerns” over the longevity of Test cricket and believes changing the current format from five days to four will go a long way in making it more “attractive to white-ball players”.

West Indies coach Andre Coley (right). (Photo by RANDY BROOKS/AFP via Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
“You may have to consider potentially Test matches making them four days. Because you look at the pace of Test matches, the majority of matches are finished in four days,” Coley said.

“So it may be to create more time to make it more relevant maybe potentially instead of five days, maybe four days. Which is closer in line with first-class cricket and the pace of play and so on. Which then makes it even more attractive for white-ball players.

“The longevity of Test cricket is a global concern. To find time to play more than two or three Test matches in a series is becoming increasingly difficult with the increase in the number of franchise tournaments that are being played around the world.

“We have to accept the reality of where we are in the scheme of things, you know the different formats and which one has actually been gaining more popularity and so on. So our plan is really to work as best as possible to have the best team available to play international cricket.

“I mean, we still believe that playing red-ball cricket is the way to go if you want to actually learn the game and extend your time in playing because if you look at it the majority of the best white-ball players are established or were established red-ball players.

“There’s a lot to be said around having a grounding in that game in that format. And it’s still alive. Even though the windows it is played is shrinking.”

Despite a lacklustre crowd in Perth for the first Test against Pakistan this summer, the fans that rolled into the MCG and SCG in the subsequent games of the series proved that Test cricket is still king