‘He could play three more years’: Smith has lobbied for weeks to replace Warner

Steve Smith began privately lobbying the Australian selectors for consideration to become Usman Khawaja’s opening partner weeks prior to David Warner’s final Test match appearance at the SCG on Saturday.

And those close to Smith believe the 34-year-old former captain can extend his international career by three years and play all the way through to the next Ashes tour if he challenges himself with the new role.

Steve Smith walks out to bat in place of David Warner.Credit: AP

Selection chair George Bailey, coach Andrew McDonald and selector Tony Dodemaide will name their squad for the first Test against the West Indies later this week, with the team due to reconvene in Adelaide on Saturday.

McDonald, speaking after Pat Cummins’ team wrapped up a 3-0 sweep of Pakistan in Sydney to give Warner the ideal farewell, acknowledged that Smith’s public declaration of interest in opening had not been made on a whim.

“He’s mentioned it throughout the last couple of weeks,” McDonald said of Smith’s desire to open. “He’s put his view forward and we will consider all options.

“He made those [views] public, so we’ll consider all options. It’s nice to have him putting his hand up. I think there were a few others that weren’t putting their hand up.

“Steve at [number] three or four is pretty appetising also. You’ve got to make sure you’re not removing the strengths of the team in the search to fill a gap also, so there’s a balance within that.”

Famously fidgety at the batting crease, Smith is also a keen watcher of Australia’s innings before he gets the chance to walk out to bat. Over the past four years, he has averaged a little over 40 batting at number four, while Marnus Labuschagne has averaged around 60 at three.

Trent Woodhill, a coach and mentor to both Smith and Warner at various times over the past 15 years, has sensed in recent months that Smith needs a new challenge to keep him fully engaged in Test cricket.

“I think he would do a really good job with it,” Woodhill told this masthead.

“His hero is Roger Federer, who evolved his game to attack more in the back of his career and shorten points against Nadal and Djokovic, and won more grand slams after a lot of people thought he was done.

“Steve’s the best batting problem solver Australia has ever had, so give him a new problem to solve. He’s that good, and this will give him the chance to go to another level. He could play three more years of Test cricket.”

There is recent evidence of Smith being able to evolve his game in the Twenty20 arena, where he reshaped his white-ball strokeplay in order to be a more aggressive opening batter and went on a run of swift scoring in last summer’s Big Bash League.

Labuschagne said Smith had shown the ability to perform better the higher he batted in the order – meaning he did not have to wait as long to do so.

“He averages 58 at [number] five, 61 at four and 67 at three – so it seems like the higher he goes, the more he averages,” Labuschagne told SEN Radio. “I’ve got no doubt if that’s the way we go, he would do very well. He really wants it, he wants that motivation … waiting to bat is not his forte; he wants to get out there straight away.

“I’m happy to do what the team needs, but I do love batting at [number] three; I love the variety of the role. At the moment, it could be anyone. I’ve seen the media throwing around Travis Head, throwing around me, [and] obviously the three openers outside of the squad – Cameron Bancroft, Matt Renshaw and Marcus Harris. Smudge [Smith] seems like the lead frontrunner, the one that really wants it.”

David Warner hugs Steve Smith as he walks off the SCG after being dismissed for a final time in Test cricket.Credit: Getty

McDonald said that the selectors needed to be conscious of not trying to replace Warner, and instead trying to find the best combination for the team with the players still available to them.

“There are many different ways to play as an opener,” McDonald said. “We’ve been lucky in having David Warner and sometimes people that play that way aren’t exactly replaceable. There’s not another David Warner out there.

“It was fantastic to see the way and the intent he played with [in his final innings]. A small and tricky run chase, that wicket wasn’t easy. But the ability to put pressure back onto the bowler all the time, it was a joy to watch in his final innings. That’ll be considered in terms of what we look for in an opener, but it’s more so what we look for in the top seven batters.

“You can have complementing skill sets within that and how they operate and function. But there’s no doubt you want some players within that order that are able to put pressure back on. We’ve seen Travis Head to do that with great success in the last 12 months or so.”

McDonald added that he felt Cameron Green was part of the best six batters in the country, strengthening the case to find a spot for him in the team. Smith’s current position at four is the same one Green occupies for Western Australia.

“No doubt the conversation changes when the personnel changes,” McDonald said. “But I think Cameron Green is potentially underrated in the way that he can play Test level as well. He’s only young in his cricketing career and we’ve seen what he’s been able to do in white-ball cricket, in particular T20.

“We know he’s got those gears. We know that he can play the high and the low. He’s arguably in our best line-up, depending on which way we go.”

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