{"id":358300,"date":"2024-01-08T09:00:21","date_gmt":"2024-01-08T10:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=358300"},"modified":"2024-01-08T11:01:43","modified_gmt":"2024-01-08T11:01:43","slug":"tubby-why-smith-opening-is-not-as-daft-as-it-seems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=358300","title":{"rendered":"Tubby: Why Smith opening is not as daft as it seems"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former Australian captain Mark Taylor has endorsed Steve Smith as David Warner's surprise replacement at the top of the Test batting order.<\/a><\/p>\n

In what shapes as another lopsided home summer, the internal race to face the new ball against the West Indies is much more competitive.<\/p>\n

\ufeffCameron Bancroft, Matt Renshaw and Marcus Harris are the specialist options to partner Usman Khawaja but Smith and Cameron Green are also in the mix for new roles.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> 'Devastating blow' as Kerr ruptures ACL\ufeff<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> How Smith bombshell changed post-Warner battle<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Aus Open suffers massive blow as Nadal withdraws<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\"Mark<\/p>\n

Smith's declaration that he was "pretty keen" to open was a genuine bombshell given his brilliant Test career in the middle order.<\/p>\n

And Taylor, one of Australia's great Test openers, \ufeffbacked him in.<\/p>\n

"I don't mind that at all because to me it says Steve Smith wants to do what's best for the team, which I think is terrific," Taylor told Wide World of Sports radio on Monday night.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Tubby:<\/p>\n

"I thought maybe (Marnus) Labuschagne moves up and Smith bats at three and Green comes in at four. But if Smith wants to move up and Labuschagne doesn't, I don't have a problem with that.<\/p>\n

"If that's what's best for Australian cricket, I think it's a good move."<\/p>\n

Taylor added that Bancroft – who like Smith and Warner was banned for his role in the Sandpapergate scandal – "deserves a chance" after excellent Sheffield Shield form for Western Australia.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

But moving Smith up the order would open up a slot for allrounder Green at No.4, where he has excelled for WA.<\/p>\n

"He's got all the numbers – especially batting at four for WA where he averages about 60 – to suggest that we've got to get him in the team," Taylor said.<\/p>\n

"He's a great field, he's a more than handy medium quick as well."<\/p>\n

\"Matt<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Taylor's former opening partner, \ufeffMatt Hayden, told the Sydney Morning Herald that he would give the nod to Renshaw.<\/a><\/p>\n

The Australian selectors will show their hand on Wednesday and captain Pat Cummins has expressed reservations about moving Smith.<\/p>\n

"It's just not going to happen in my opinion," Hayden said.<\/p>\n

\"Steve<\/p>\n

"He's (Smith) commanded so much respect in the game that we should all listen to what he has to say, but I equally think that's not the way the Australian cricket team management will go. It certainly doesn't sound like the way Pat will go.\ufeff<\/p>\n

"I just can't see how strategically that is going to work for Cricket Australia.<\/p>\n

"They will need someone more concrete than that."<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former Australian captain Mark Taylor has endorsed Steve Smith as David Warner's surprise replacement at the top of the Test batting order. In what shapes […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":358302,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358300"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=358300"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358300\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":358304,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358300\/revisions\/358304"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/358302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=358300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=358300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=358300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}