Australian talisman Steven Smith earlier this year has taken the opening slot of the Test side. Despite having a good record as the number four batter and other positions in the middle order the 35-year-old volunteered to take up the spot and embrace the challenge of playing brand new ball post-David Warner’s retirement.
However, in the four innings against West Indies earlier this year he had mixed results. Though he made a crucial 91 in the second innings of Adelaide he struggled in the other three innings having an overall average of 28.50 in the position. When asked about the record Smith would respond by saying, “You’ll have to ask the men in charge but I’m not fussed either way,” Smith was quoted as saying by Code Sports.
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“Some challenging conditions with the new ball, in particular. So I would have liked to score a few more runs,” Smith would add. “That’s the game sometimes but I played pretty well in the second innings at the Gabba where we couldn’t get over the line, unfortunately. It’s just a position to me so it doesn’t really faze me too much.”
“I don’t like waiting to bat, so I thought why don’t I put my hand up and have a crack up top? That way, you can get Cameron Green in and you’re playing your best six batters,” Smith would give rationale earlier this year on Fox Cricket. “I am (excited). I like facing the newer ball. If you look back to the 2019 Ashes, I was in pretty early there most of the time when I was facing the new ball.
“I batted no.3 from a number of years as well and was in early and did pretty well against the new ball. So it’s nothing new or foreign to me. I enjoy getting in there and getting amongst it and I’m looking forward to that challenge,” he further said at the time.
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Smith’s biggest challenge as opener would come later this year when Australia face India for a match Test series at home.
File image of Australia's Steve Smith reacting after losing his wicket in the series against England. (PHOTO: Action Images via Reuters) 
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