Former Australian captain Aaron Finch has strongly recommended that Steve Smith be reinstated to his previous position at No. 4 in the batting order. Steve Smith, who moved up the order to open after David Warner’s retirement earlier this year, has struggled to make a significant impact in this new role.
Despite a praiseworthy fifty in the second Test against the West Indies at The Gabba, Steve Smith’s performances as an opener have been inconsistent for an Australian cricket team. Steve Smith’s struggles were particularly evident during Australia’s tour of New Zealand, where the moving new ball posed a considerable challenge to him.
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Included among the elite group known as the “Fab 4,” Steve Smith and Virat Kohli have been among the most consistent and prolific run-scorers in cricket history. Having made his Test debut in 2011, Virat Kohli went through a career-defining series in Australia in 2014–15 accumulating over 650 runs. With nine Test hundreds under his belt, Steve Smith, on the other hand, shows an amazing average of 65.87 versus India.
Last year’s World Test Championship (WTC) final saw Steve Smith and Virat Kohli square off head-to-head. Virat Kohli scored 14 and 49 runs in that battle; Smith exceeded him with innings of 121 and 34, enabling Australia to win 209 runs.
This has fueled ongoing debates about whether the experiment of positioning Steve Smith at the top of the order should be reconsidered. Former Australian players, including Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer, as well as Smith’s current opening partner, Usman Khawaja, have also expressed concerns about the decision to shift the former captain’s batting position.
Now, Finch has also echoed these sentiments, suggesting that Steve Smith’s expertise and career average, which nears 60, would be better utilized back in the middle order in Test cricket. The reason behind moving Steve Smith to the top of the order was initially to accommodate Cameron Green in the playing XI, as the team sought to utilize his all-round capabilities.
While the intention was to balance the team, Finch and others believe that the benefits of Smith’s exceptional performance at No. 4 overshadow the current strategy followed by the Australian team management.
Aaron Finch backs Steve Smith to return to No. 4 in Tests ahead of BGT 2024-25
Former Australia opening batter Aaron Finch has opined that Steve Smith must be restored to his earlier No. 4 position in the red-ball batting line-up. The ace batter was promoted to the top of the order after David Warner’s retirement earlier this year.
So far, Steve Smith has not been able to cast a lasting impression in the makeshift role. He scored a valiant fifty in the second Test against the West Indies at The Gabba but apart from that, there is not much to note about his recent displays. He particularly struggled on the tour of New Zealand against the moving new ball, and since then, calls to bring an end to the experiment have been constant.
Much like Finch, former players such as Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer have voiced their reservations over the shuffled batting order, and so has Steve Smith’s current opening batting partner Usman Khawaja.
In a conversation with 7News, Aaron Finch said:
“(Smith opening) did make a bit of sense when you’re trying to find the best spot for Cameron Green in the side when everybody’s been quite open about the fact that they want to push him in the side no matter what it takes.”
“I can see where the move came from, Steve putting his hand up and saying, ‘You know what, maybe it is time for a new challenge,’ and he proved himself a good opener, no doubt about that. But, I mean, when you’ve averaged near on 60 over your career, I think it’s time to head back in that direction, in my opinion,” he added.
Steve Smith has left the decision regarding his batting position to the team management, saying he has no issue with either opening or playing in the middle order. Steve Smith’s proven track record to anchor the innings effectively and Finch feels it is time for the right-hander to go back to his original position ahead of the five-match Test series against India.