“He’s going to make big runs” - Former Australia captain suggests new batting role for Steve Smith at 2025 Champions Trophy
Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting feels that the team management should consider promoting Steve Smith as an opener in the Champions Trophy 2025 amid the form and injury crisis. While Travis Head is set to hold one of the two spots, his partners like Jake Fraser-McGurk and Matt Short have been far from convincing.
Australia, who are battling a major conundrum with their inexperienced makeshift bowling attack, are also plagued with issues in their batting department. The middle-order comprising Josh Inglis, Alex Carey, and Glenn Maxwell holds relatively well together despite Marnus Labuschagne's poor run of form.
But, the Men in Yellow need a definite solution at the top, considering the importance of the role. They had a reasonably experienced candidate in the form of Mitchell Marsh, but the all-rounder has been ruled out of the tournament due to an injury.
Ponting recommends an unconventional solution, where Smith partners Head at the top, and plays as the anchor that holds the innings together.
“Do they think about opening the batting with Steve Smith, which is something that they could actually think about as well, I think, because of how well he's done in white ball cricket when he has opened the batting," Ponting said on the ICC Review.
“(Smith) could be someone that could be an anchor through this Champions Trophy at the top of the order. And you know that with the form that he's in, he's going to make big runs," he added .
Steve Smith has never opened the batting in ODI cricket before. He has played at the top of the order in T20 cricket in recent times, heavily for the Sydney Sixers in the Big Bash League, and sporadically for the national team. He had a brief stint as a Test opener in 2024 after David Warner's retirement too, but the plug was pulled ahead of the Border-Gavaskar series later in the same year.
The need for an alternate option in the opening department stems from Jake Fraser McGurk and Matt Short's lack of runs of late. The pair opened the innings in the three-match ODI series against Pakistan at home, where they averaged just 20 for the first wicket.
Even in the recently concluded ODI series against Sri Lanka, they were not among the runs. Fraser-McGurk and Short scored 11 and 2 runs respectively in the two-match series.
"He's making it harder and harder" - Ricky Ponting on Jake Fraser-McGurk's inclusion in Australia's playing XI
The transition from David Warner to Jake Fraser-McGurk in white-ball cricket was expected to be smooth after the former retired from international cricket after the 2024 T20 World Cup. However, the emerging player has not made the most of his opportunity.
He has copped blame from former players consistently for his poor shot selection, and inability to make the most of a start. In the seven ODIs he has played since his debut in early 2024, only 98 runs at an average of 14 have been scored. Furthermore, he faces competition from Matt Short, who brings his ability as a part-time off-spinner to the table.
“Yeah, he's making it harder and harder (for selectors to stick with Fraser-McGurk). He's not had the greatest of summers. I mean, there's just so much talent there. There's so much ability and skill and talent that we haven't sort of seen consistently enough just yet. And that's one of the big calls (selectors) are going to have to make now as well," Ponting said
Ponting has worked closely with Jake Fraser-McGurk during the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) season when the youngster came in as an injury replacement for the Delhi Capitals (DC)