Steve Smith said that he doesn’t want any negativity to creep in ahead of his first full-time gig as Australia’s Test opener. Australia will play West Indies in a series of 2 Tests, starting January 17 in Adelaide.
Smith will replace David Warner at the top, who retired from the format after the third and final Test against Pakistan in Sydney. Smith revealed he first flagged the idea of replacing the retiring David Warner as an opener during last year's Ashes.
"I've kind of been pushing it for a few weeks, even before Perth I think, and I might have been floated in England just randomly and said 'I'll get up top and I'm happy to play up top. In Perth, I kind of said 'You know after Davey's done I'm actually keen to get up there'.
I don't think they sort of took me seriously until I got to Sydney and I was like 'I'm actually being genuine here. I'd be keen to get up top and face the new ball.' And they were like, 'all right, well, we'll take that under advisement and see how it all looks,” Smith told cricket.com.au.
Smith also said that he has not considered what it would mean for his future if the move to Test opener does not pay off for Australia. And if Cameron Green does exceedingly well at No. 4.
"I don't like thinking that way. I don't want to think negative thoughts at all. I'm not sure. If someone gets injured in the middle and the next batters in are genuine openers, then maybe they slot back in [at the top] and I go back down. I don't know the answer. But for right now we've got what we believe is our best six batters playing,” he added.
The 34-year-old believes he is at his best against the new ball. He averages 106.2 when walking to the wicket in the first two overs. Warner had also stated that teams are unlikely to continue to consistently bounce Smith early in the innings, a strategy that has hampered the right-hander's scoring in prior seasons.
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"It would be pretty game if you've got a brand new ball bowling short stuff and wasting it. It helps the scoring rate when you're facing the new ball and there's a bit more attacking going on. Over the last few years, I've come in after quite a lot of runs, the ball's a bit softer. "[They] have a cover in and maybe four on the legside, guys are bowling straight and able to control the scoreboard a little bit more. That's probably kept me quieter and made me face a lot more balls to score runs.
Perhaps that changes a bit with the new ball. You obviously have a bit more attacking fields and more gaps out there to score runs. I'm looking forward to that,” Smith added.
Smith said a desire to open the innings in Tests was partly driven by the idea of a new challenge at this point in his career. And also, he felt unfair that Green might be forced to open the innings, so early in his Test career.
(cricket.com.au inputs)
