"They hated me up top" - Steve Smith admits Khawaja and Labuschagne’s roles in batting shuffle ahead of BGT 2024-25
Australia batter Steve Smith opened up about his return to No.4, which was recently finalized by the captain-coach duo of Pat Cummins and Andrew McDonald ahead of the Border-Gavaskar series. The middle-order specialist had a brief stint as an opener following David Warner's retirement after the home series against Pakistan at the start of the year.
The 35-year played two series as an opener alongside Usman Khawaja, but found little success. He scored a valiant 91* in the eight-run loss to the West Indies in the second test at The Gabba this January, but struggled against the new ball during the tour of New Zealand. (51 runs in four innings)
Several former Australia openers voiced their concern over Smith playing as an opener, while the latter added that his fellow batting partners Marnus Labuschagne and Usman Khawaja also were not fond of the move.
"Obviously there's a spot there now with Greeny [Cameron Green] out. And I think just conversations we had after New Zealand with particularly Marnus and Uzi, they hated me up top, to be honest. They wanted me behind them," Smith told ESPN Cricinfo.
"They just like the...they call it security behind them, in a way. They were pretty strong on me not batting there. So that was a big part of it. And then obviously, I've got a decent record at four," he added.
The New South Welshman further added that his return to the middle order was not facilitated at his insistence. The batter remained firm on his stance that he is comfortable batting at any position, but feels that he is best suited to play at No.4 in the batting order.
"I got asked where I'd prefer to bat, and I said four. I didn't ask [to move] though, I also said I'm happy batting wherever. I'm not really too fussed. I got asked where my preference would be, and I said four. I saw a few things last week saying that I've requested to bat at four. That wasn't the case. I said I'm happy to bat wherever you'd like me to bat but, yeah, four would be my ideal position," Smith said.
Smith can now slot into his old position, with its current occupant, Cameron Green, being ruled out of the entire home season after undergoing back surgery. Australia have the option of trying out Travis Head at the top, or find a specialist opening batter from the domestic circuit.
"I actually felt like I was getting in nice positions" - Steve Smith on his preparations for the Border-Gavaskar series
Steve Smith is involved in the Sheffield Shield for the New South Wales in their ongoing clash against Victoria. The batter was dismissed by Fergus O'Neill for three runs while coming out to bat at No.3.
"I actually felt pretty good out there, to be honest, for the three that I scored strangely enough," Smith said. "I felt like I was moving well. I was leaving well, and got a little bit unlucky with the one that sort of took off a little bit down the leg side. And that can happen. But I actually felt like I was getting in nice positions. My bat path was good and felt pretty good. So happy with that," he stated via the aforementioned source.
Smith also hailed his teammate, the emerging breakthrough star, Sam Konstas. The member of the 2024 U-19 World Cup winning squad has been touted as one to watch out for, and has been named in the Australia A squad for the series against India A.
While usual names like Marcus Harris, Matt Renshaw, and Cameron Bancroft are floated around on a consistent basis, Smith has backed Nic Maddinson for the role, primarily due to his brisk run-scoring, mirroring that of his predecessor, David Warner.
"He's someone who probably hasn't been spoken about a great deal from all you guys in the last little bit, but I think he's someone that could definitely play test cricket and have a similar impact to what Davey sort of had at the top, the way he plays. So plenty of options. We'll wait and see," Smith concluded.
The Border-Gavaskar series is slated to begin from November 22 onwards at the Optus Stadium in Perth.