Ever since David Warner announced his retirement from Test cricket, many opening batsmen have been seen as his replacement, especially in Test cricket. Players like Marcus Harris, Cameron Bancroft and Matt Renshaw were included in this list. However, the team management was open to the idea of trying Cameron Green at the top of the order along with Usman Khawaja.
AlthoughBefore the third Test against Pakistan in Sydney, Steve Smith had expressed his desire to open, which made the decision even more difficult for the team management. marnus labuschagne supported the idea and said that it would give him a lot of motivation to improve in the longest format.
However, captain Pat Cummins does not support this and is happy with Smith playing at number four. The captain said that he has no problem from numbers 3 to 6, as Labuschagne, Smith, Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh have performed well.
Steve Smith will bat at number 4 only – Pat Cummins
Pat Cummins was quoted by Cricbuzz as saying, “I am very happy with (Smith’s) performance at number 4. Obviously Marnus (Labuschen), Steve (Smith), Travie (Head) and (Mitchell) Marsh have been very influential at Nos. 3, 4, 5 and 6. So the first instinct is probably not to disrupt it.”
Warner was a tremendous player in red-ball cricket and Cummins said that it would be difficult for anyone to replace him. The 30-year-old did not give a clear indication of the player who could replace Warner in the final playing XI, but said that players who have scored runs in the Sheffield Shield will be considered for this.
Cummins said, “Obviously it will be really difficult to repeat what Davey has done. I think what you really look for is who is in the best position to score runs. But I think, in Test cricket, there are some things that remain true – and that is that you have to put pressure on the opponent.
You have to tick the scoreboard. Not always – but most of the time – you have to keep the scoreboard moving. There are some thoughts, but realistically, if someone is scoring runs in Shield cricket, it is probably a good sign that they can do it at the next level.”
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