Border Gavaskar Trophy: Steve Smith won’t open against India, says Australia selector George Bailey | Cricket News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: After a brief tenure as Australia‘s opening batsman in Test cricket, Steven Smith will return to his position in the middle order for the forthcoming Border Gavaskar Trophy match against India, according to confirmation from National Selector George Bailey.
Smith received a promotion to the position of opener when David Warner decided to retire. But with just 171 runs at a mark of 28.50, the 35-year-old endured a dismal spell that had many wonder if he might be better suited as an opener.
Following the conclusion of Australia’s final Test match against New Zealand, there was some discussion about his place in the starting XI.
The seasoned batter has now moved to the middle order as a result of Cameron Green‘s recent injury setback and Bailey’s confirmation of Smith’s request to return to the middle order.
“Pat, Andrew and Steve Smith had been having ongoing conversations, separate to the untimely injury to Cameron (Green),” Bailey told reporters as quoted from ESPNcricinfo.
“And I think Steve had expressed a desire to move back down from that opening position. Pat and Andrew have confirmed that he will be dropping back down the order for the summer. So, yeah, clearly we’ve got a No. 4 spot to fill and an opening spot to fill,” he added.
With five weeks remaining before the first ball is bowled in the BGT series in Perth on November 22, Australia needs to find the right kind of player to step up with Smith sliding down the order.
Bailey was asked if there was a guy in the top six who could bowl, considering that Green was ruled out of the series.
Mitchell Marsh‘s bowling skills has been a source of concern for some time, but Bailey was quick to point out that Australia has played without an all-rounder in their line-up.
“They’ve done it in the past. You don’t know how each Test is going to play out in terms of the workload for the quicks or how much of an impact Nathan Lyon’s going to have across the summer. We certainly have been and will continue preparing for Mitch Marsh to be able to bowl some overs as well, and that’s been part of his management and build for the last couple of months,” Bailey said
“So there’s other ways. There’s teams that have played, and we’ve been a team that has played without an all-rounder in the past. There’s more than one way to structure up a team,” he added.
Marcus Harris, Cameron Bancroft, and Sam Konstas, the teenage sensation from New South Wales, will represent Australia A in two first-class matches against India A before the start of the five Tests.
Since 2019, Bancroft has been hoping to make a comeback to the Australian Test team, but Konsta’s recent performance may give him the advantage.
Konstas became one of the youngest players to achieve two Sheffield Shield centuries, along with legends Ricky Ponting and Don Bradman.
Konstas made history during his team’s Shield Cricket match against South Australia by becoming the third youngest player to score double tons in the same game.
“He’s in the mix as are plenty of others. I certainly don’t want to single him out. I think the consistency of Cam Bancroft over a number of years and the consistency of Marcus Harris over a number of years, they’ve both had a look at Test cricket as well. So I don’t think there’s any need at this stage to put undue pressure expectations on Sam,” Bailey said while talking about the youngsters’ chances of getting selected.
“He’s five games into his first-class career. He’s had a good start to that, and he certainly looks like he’s got a well-organized game that we’re really excited and looking forward to seeing at the A level, and we’ll just continue to watch as that progresses,” he added.