If the last test against Pakistan was all about David Warner’s pending retirement, the series-opener against West Indies centers around newly-promoted opener Steve Smith.
And Smith, true to his technical, analytical self, has dared the Caribbean attack to waste the new ball by bowling short-pitched deliveries to him.
Smith volunteered and was elevated from No. 4 to open with Usman Khawaja. They’ll combine first when Australia bats in the first of two tests starting Wednesday at Adelaide Oval.
Smith said the tactics opponents have used against him in the past will now risk blemishing the new ball by landing it halfway down the pitch.
He wants to score more freely in the role, taking advantage of attacking fields and lengths in the way Warner so often did in a 112-test career that ended at the Sydney Cricket Ground last week with a 3-0 Australia sweep over Pakistan.
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“It’s pretty game, I suppose, with a brand new ball; bowling short stuff and wasting it,” Smith told Australian Associated Press. “I think it helps the scoring rate for sure 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 . . . that’s probably kept me quieter and made me face a lot more balls to score runs. So perhaps that changes a bit with the new ball, you have a bit more attacking fields and more gaps out there to score runs.”
Cameron Green will make his first test appearance for Australia since the Ashes series in England last June after being recalled to the starting XI. He’s expected to bat in the No. 4 spot vacated by Smith, an ex-Australia captain and top-ranked test batter who has been a middle-order batsman for most of his career.
“I’ve let all the guys know obviously how much I love playing at No. 4, and I’m obviously grateful for the opportunity,” Green said. “No. 4 is where I feel like I can take my time and settle in.”
The 24-year-old allrounder has batted at No. 6 in all of his previous 24 tests, averaging 33.59, with his only century coming against India in Ahmedabad last March.
Pakistan’s loss at the SCG kept the test team winless in Australia since 1995, and West Indies are on a similar wrong side of a streak — they haven’t won a test match Down Under since February 1997.
Just over a year from the first test against West Indies in November-December 2022, Australia has played 17 tests, with very few personnel changes over that span.
The West Indies have brought only five players who appeared in the two tests against Australia in 2022-23 and have added seven uncapped players to the touring squad. The Caribbean squad has played just six test matches since the Australia series — against Zimbabwe, South Africa and India — and won just one.
The second and final test in the series, a day-night match at the Gabba in Brisbane, begins January 25.
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