Australia v West Indies: The inside story of Steve Smith’s shock move to opener to replace David Warner

Steve Smith’s elevation to opener has divided the Australian public and greats of the game – Robert Craddock reveals exactly how it came to be.

Steve Smith’s selection at opener has become the most polarising and mysterious move Australia has made in years, a lightning bolt from left field.

It has livened up a soft spot in the summer by dividing opinion not simply among former greats but all the way through the Australian team and even the very men selecting it.

In a perverse sort of way, it has highlighted the majesty of Test cricket by spotlighting the passion it brings out in fans – you don’t get this sort of intense chat about a T20 selection.

Simon Katich and Michael Clarke like it. Matt Hayden, Darren Lehmann, Ricky Ponting and Merv Hughes have reservations, Alex Carey was open-minded while West Australians Tom Moody and Kim Hughes were filthy that it meant Cam Bancroft was snubbed.

Casual followers of the sport might have thought the Smith switch was nothing more than a thought bubble when Usman Khawaja – whose job it is to walk out to bat with the man chosen – initially said he felt Smith was best left at No 4.

Steve Smith’s move up the order has split opinion the cricketing public – even among Australia’s Test greats. Picture: Getty

Pat Cummins hinted the same – and he is the man with the final say on Australia’s batting order.

If Cummins did not sanction it there is no way it could happen.

But somewhere in the conversation Cummins changed his mind.

It’s intriguing. When selectors asked key players for feedback it was not as if they all said “pick Smith.’’ Marcus Harris and Cam Green also had fans.

But the key factor in the selectors minds was Smith’s desire to do the job when three other members of the top order had no interest in it.

That got the selectors interested because they are a very player-friendly panel. They like to give players what they want. Smith wanted to open. Green wanted to bat at four. Two problems could be solved in one move.

Cameron Green also gets his wish, of being able to bat at No.4 for Australia. Picture: Getty

Smith had been thinking about opening for a while in place of the retired David Warner but for the idea to take flight it needed to be floated publicly and that is where Smith’s former Australian and Sutherland teammate Shane Watson came into play.

The two get along well and when Watson realised Smith was keen to open he became the first man to publicly push his cause at a function with esteemed journalists Peter Lalor and Gideon Haigh at Sydney’s Willie The Boatman on January 2.

Watson called it “the challenge he needs’’ and noted that Smith was at his best coming in at No.3 trying to save the ship rather than at No 4 when most of the work had been done.

Steve Smith watches on at the SCG nets along with former Test teammate Shane Watson. Picture: Getty

When Lalor wrote about Watson’s words the following day in The Australian something unusual happened.

Journalists following up the story who had become accustomed to middle order players saying they were “very happy to stay where they were’’ were told by Smith’s management that Smith had no problem at all with the story and even endorsed Watson’s words.

Everything changed from that point.

When Smith told ABC radio midway through the Sydney Test “I’m happy to go up’’ his chances of getting the job firmed from any old odds to even money.

The interesting thing about Smith following Warner is that it again links them in history.

For several years they were the twin engines of the Australian team who seemed to be driving each other upwards with a friendly run-scoring rivalry.

Then they were banned together for Sandpapergate and deliberately caught different planes home from South Africa as the distance between them widened for a while.

Finally and fittingly, when Warner left the ground on the last day of his last Test, the last player to hug him was Smith.

And now this …

Originally published as Australia v West Indies: The inside story of Steve Smith’s shock move to opener to replace David Warner