Coach says 'question on everyone's lips' is yet to be answered by national selectors ahead of India Tests
Steve Smith's position at the top of Australia's Test batting order is not set in stone, with coach Andrew McDonald revealing selectors are still weighing up the merits of keeping their most credentialled batter as an opener against India this summer.
But, 10 weeks out from the first Test in Perth, McDonald insisted he wants to see the incumbent top six get first crack at facing an Indian team the Aussies have failed to beat in their previous four Test series.
Smith's eagerness for a new challenge saw him elevated to the opening spot following David Warner's retirement last summer.
But after mixed returns – he carried his bat for 91no in a narrow defeat to West Indies at the Gabba before averaging 12.75 in four innings in New Zealand – the 35-year-old has been non-committal about staying there.
"Whether I'm going to bat there this summer I'm not sure," Smith, one of Australia’s greatest all-time cricketers, told cricket.com.au recently. "I'm pretty easy either way. I'm not fussed, I'll do whatever they want me to do."
India, top of the current World Test Championship standings, possess some of the most skilled pace bowlers in the world in Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj.
McDonald suggested captain Pat Cummins, along with selection chief George Bailey, will have important input into whether Smith partners Usman Khawaja against the new ball or drops down the order.
Complicating matters is the fact Smith's replacement at No.4, allrounder Cameron Green, put together arguably his finest Test innings against the Kiwis in February with a match-winning 174no.
"That’s the question on everyone’s lips, isn’t it?" McDonald told SEN radio when asked where Smith would bat. "While we’ve got an eye to it, we haven’t made any firm decisions around that one.
"There’s plenty of speculation around that, but in the background I’d be lying if I said that conversation wasn’t happening.
"Clearly, Patty Cummins, as the captain, is a big part of that … we’ve already had some chats in Sydney initially around what we’re thinking for the summer, and that goes right down to depth bowling and all those hypotheticals and ‘what-ifs’ that we always go through.
"Clearly, if we make a shift with Steve Smith, then someone else will have to go to the top. We've seen Cameron Green be really successful at number four as well. So that adds layers to the decision-making. But nothing is firm and fixed at the moment."
The preference of McDonald, one member of a three-person selection panel along with Bailey and Tony Dodemaide, to keep the same batters in the side leaves the door ajar for another middle-order player to move up the order to accommodate Smith.
Travis Head opens in white-ball cricket but selectors may be reluctant to shift him from the No.5 spot he has dominated in recent times.
Marnus Labuschagne opened early in his first-class career and could conceivably shift up one spot from first drop.
Asked if the incumbent top six should hold their spots, McDonald said: "In my mind it does.
"Clearly, there’s a few other selectors, and I don’t want to sort of influence the decision-making or thinking of George Bailey. But we’ve spoken about that, and we’re still a big believer in the best six batters (playing).
"We feel as though that the team that finished in New Zealand, should they get a clean run at it and be well prepared, then they would be the best-placed players to fill that, there’s no doubt about that."
With McDonald making no secret Australia view the India Tests as the main show this summer, their preparation could see top players miss the six-game home white-ball series against Pakistan through early-November to play in the Sheffield Shield instead.
Green benefited from skipping a limited-over series against West Indies last season, instead turning out for Western Australia and scoring a century against Tasmania ahead of the NZ series.
Fast bowlers Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood could do likewise this summer, though that trio have previously gone into a home Test season with ODIs as their main preparation.
"A lot of our priorities will be geared around that (India series)," said McDonald, who is currently leading Australia's white-ball teams on a month-long tour of the United Kingdom.
"You'll see that unfold with the management of our players (which) will be very pointed around who does what in terms of Shield cricket coming into the summer to make sure that they are ready for that first Test match.
"So we may have to give up a little bit in terms of that Pakistan white-ball series with certain players to make sure that we are firmly prepared.
"We've got some fast bowlers that have been really good at preparing for Test cricket off the back of one-day cricket.
"We saw with Cameron Green last year, we released him back to Shield cricket down at Hobart, and he got a hundred there leading into the New Zealand series.
"It's really case by case and where players are at. Clearly if they have a setback here or there, then their plan will change. At the moment, we've got some long term planning, but like most of our long-term planning, it does shift."
