Steven Smith is said to have indicated to Australia’s selectors that he wanted to be David Warner’s long-term successor.
Steven Smith has put his hat in the ring to replace David Warner as Australia’s next Test opener. He indicated his interest in doing so if the selectors required him. Warner retires from Test cricket after the Sydney Test against Pakistan.
Smith’s name had not been mentioned among the candidates to replace Warner throughout the summer, with Cameron Green surfacing as a last-ditch alternative among Marcus Harris, Cameron Bancroft, and Matt Renshaw.
However, it was revealed this week that Smith was interested in the role, and it is thought that he has discussed the possibility of fulfilling the position with the selectors.
Steven Smith wishes to bat first in Tests
Smith acknowledged to ABC Grandstand following the third day of play that he was interested in doing it long-term.
After Warner’s retirement, the selectors were aiming to get Green into the team, with McDonald. He earlier suggested that there were other choices, including Marnus Labuschagne up to open from No. 3.
No one expected Smith to be interested in the opener’s role. Despite his 61.46 average and 19 Test hundreds at No. 4.
He has a superior Test average of 67.07 at No. 3 in Test cricket with eight hundred. But he hasn’t had the chance to play there since the two tours of India and Bangladesh in 2017. He batted there as captain and struck three centuries in nine innings in vicious spinning conditions.
Following that, Usman Khawaja was picked ahead of him to bat at No. 3, and Labuschagne took over for the 2019 Ashes.
Smith is said to be looking for a new challenge to re-energize him following a rather calm year by his lofty standards in 2023. Despite this, he averaged 42.22 with three centuries and over a thousand runs.
The selectors will decide who will replace Warner after the Sydney Test, after which the group will separate for a week before reconvening in Adelaide for the first of two Tests against the West Indies, which begins on January 17.
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