‘Chill’: Jim Maxwell puts Peter FitzSimons in his place over Steve Smith ‘must go’ call

One of the voices of cricket has hit back at ex-Wallaby Peter FitzSimons’ take that Australia has already seen enough of Steve Smith as opener.

ABC cricket commentator Jim Maxwell has urged former Wallaby Peter FitzSimons to “chill” after he called for an end to the Steve Smith experiment at the top of Australia’s Test batting order.

Smith made it clear to selectors that he wanted the chance to open the batting after David Warner’s retirement but has yet to make the position his own.

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In eight innings as an opener, Smith has passed 15 just twice, although he was not out in two of those innings.

One of those was 91 not out in the second Test against the West Indies where he was the lone hand in an ultimately unsuccessful fourth innings chase.

He became just the 12th Aussie to carry their bat, which is when an opening batter is the only not out batter when all 10 wickets fall in an innings. The last Aussie before Smith was David Warner in 2011.

However, Smith had a nightmare in the two-match series against New Zealand, scoring just 51 runs at an average of 12.75.

Steve Smith has struggled as an opener. Photo by Kai Schwoerer/Getty Images

As an opener, Smith has scored 171 runs at 28.5, nearly half of his career average of 56.97.

Although Australia now doesn’t have another Test match until next summer’s five-Test series against India, questions have continued to be asked about Smith’s place at the top of the order.

It saw FitzSimons in his role as a Sydney Morning Herald columnist push Cameron Bancroft to replace Smith.

In a column titled Steve Smith must go, and here is the opener to take his place, FitzSimons said although Smith “has been the finest Australian batsman of his generation”, the end is coming for the 34-year-old.

“Allan Border once told me that he knew it was time to retire when, by the time he realised the ideal stroke was a cut-shot or the like, the ball was past him and in the hands of the wicketkeeper,” FitzSimons wrote.

“Right now – at least to my neophyte eyes – Smith looks just a little like that. Instead of the fluid strokes we are used to, regularly rattling the picket fences, much of his stuff seems stuttering and unsure.”

FitzSimons’ solution? Cameron Bancroft.

“The most compelling reason for why to pick Bancroft is the sheer number of runs he has scored as an opener for Western Australia, in the Sheffield Shield, where his average is just under 50 for this season, higher than any other opening batsman in the country in first class cricket,” FitzSimons argued.

FitzSimons added that Bancroft had “paid far and away the heaviest price” for Australia’s infamous ball tampering scandal.

Jim Maxwell is a true legend of cricket broadcasting. Picture: Sam Mooy/The Australian Newspaper

Peter FitzSimons. Picture: Mark Wilson

However, 50-year ABC cricket commentary legend Jim Maxwell responded, calling for FitzSimons to cool his jets.

“Won’t happen. Next test in November so sit still,” Maxwell wrote on X.

“How do you improve the top six ? You don’t … yet. Smith did carry his bat 5 innings ago and opening is a tough gig. Bancroft’s requiem was written when he wasn’t picked for the Ashes. And no one catches better than Smith. Chill.”

Won’t happen. Next test in November so sit still. How do you improve the top six ? You don’t…yet. Smith did carry his bat 5 innings ago and opening is a tough gig. Bancroft’s requiem was written when he was’nt picked for the Ashes. And no one catches better than Smith. Chill. https://t.co/1UNS3x4dEJ

— jim maxwell (@jimmaxcricket) March 14, 2024

In an exchange with a punter, Maxwell also suggested FitzSimons should: “concentrate on the next five eighth for the Wobblies”.

Bancroft’s “compelling” numbers have also come under question after Matthew Renshaw was selected in Australia’s squad ahead of the West Australian over the summer.

Bancroft blasted 945 runs in 2022/23 at an average of 59.06, including four centuries, finishing top of the run scoring list by nearly 300 runs.

In 2023/24, Bancroft is second on the run scoring list with 778 runs at 48.62 with three centuries with just the competition final to come. He is 136 runs behind Tasmania’s Beau Webster, who has scored 914 runs for the season.

However, including a County Championship stint and matches for Australia A, Bancroft’s average is much less impressive.

In the selection after Warner’s retirement, Renshaw had the higher average since the beginning of the 2022/23 Sheffield Shield season at 52.7, compared to Bancroft’s 46.8.

Renshaw had a shocking end to the 2023/24 Sheffield Shield season, scoring just 26 runs in four innings after Christmas.

Cameron Bancroft is knocking the door down. Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

Steve Smith has been out-of-sorts in recent times. Photo by Kai Schwoerer/Getty Images

While time is indeed undefeated, dropping Smith back down would create issues as Cameron Green, who slotted into the No. 4 spot Smith had vacated, was Australia’s leading scorer in New Zealand after his 174 not out in the first Test, while Mitchell Marsh is the reigning Allan Border Medallist and arguably in the form of his life.

Marnus Labuschagne has been struggling for form at No. 3 and could potentially be on the chopping block if Smith was shifted.

But Australian coach Andrew McDonald appears to be in Maxwell’s camp, calling the criticism around Smith “unfair”.

“I don’t think it’s deserved. I think he’ll be able to work through that. It’s a new challenge for him.

“It’s a new position and if you’re bringing in a new opener, and you gave them four Test matches, and then said, ‘OK, we’re going to shift that after four Test matches’, would you think that’s fair, unfair? I think it’s reasonably unfair.

“He’s up for the challenge. I think any time that Steve Smith fails he sees it as a greater challenge.

“So obviously walking away here with 51 runs under his belt in tough conditions, that’ll no doubt drive him for the next challenge. And that next challenge is India and they await.

“I think it’ll be an internal motivator for him. He wants to open. It’s a position that he came to us around and we think he can make it work.

“But we’re trying to make sure that we get the best top six batters, plus Alex Carey as an extension of that. And how we stack them is always going to be a debate.”

McDonald pointed to the likelihood of an unchanged team, having made just one change across the summer, Green in for Warner.

Australia won six of those seven Tests, including the stirring win in Christchurch to complete a series clean sweep of the Kiwis.

Originally published as ‘Chill’: Jim Maxwell puts Peter FitzSimons in his place over Steve Smith ‘must go’ call