Steve Smith's return to the Australian middle order has been confirmed for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy where the Aussies host India for five Tests starting from November 22. (More Cricket News)
Smith's middle order return was confirmed by Australia chief selector George Bailey on Monday after it was revealed that all-rounder Cameron Green would miss the marquee India-Australia Test series.
The 35-year-old had been moved to the opening slot after David Warner's retirement last year. Green had succeeded him at the number four position, where Smith had batted for almost the entirety of his career. The right-hander is expected to take back the same spot for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Bailey also said that the decision to move Smith back into the middle order was taken after consultation with captain Pat Cummins and head coach Andre McDonald.
"Pat, Andrew and Steve Smith had been having ongoing convers, separate to the untimely injury to Cameron (Green)," Bailey told reporters.
"Steve had expressed a desire to move back down from that opening position, and Pat and Andrew have confirmed that he will be dropping back down the order for the summer. So, yeah, clearly we've got a No. 4 spot to fill and an opening spot to fill," Bailey said.
Smith, who is 315 runs away from 10,000 Test runs, had a poor stint as an opener where he averaged just 28.5 in eight innings.
With Green's injury and Smith's return to the middle order, Australia would need to find an opener for the marquee Test series. Green's ouster for the next six months and concerns over Mitch Marsh's ability to bowl have also left Australia in a vulnerable position with possibly no all-rounder in the side. Bailey, however, downplayed this concern and said there are various ways to construct a team.
"They've done it in the past," Bailey said. "You don't know how each Test is going to play out in terms of the workload for the quicks, or how much of an impact Nathan Lyon's going to have across the summer. We certainly have been and will continue preparing for Mitch Marsh to be able to bowl some overs as well, and that's been part of his management and build for the last couple of months. So there's other ways. There's teams that have played, and we've been a team that has played, without an allrounder in the past. There's more than one way to structure up a team."
