{"id":427815,"date":"2024-10-21T19:32:38","date_gmt":"2024-10-21T19:32:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=427815"},"modified":"2024-10-21T23:09:43","modified_gmt":"2024-10-21T23:09:43","slug":"smith-says-teammates-hated-his-batting-switch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=427815","title":{"rendered":"Smith says teammates 'hated' his batting switch"},"content":{"rendered":"

Steve Smith<\/a> has dismissed reports he requested to be moved back into the middle order as Cricket Australia continue hunting for an opening partner for Usman Khawaja.<\/p>\n

Smith was elevated to the top of the batting order following the retirement of David Warner<\/a> as Cameron Green<\/a> slotted into the No.4 role briefly at the end of last summer.<\/p>\n

With Green a scratching for the upcoming summer, Smith has found himself at the centre of debate over where he will line up in the batting order.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> 'Huge distraction': Boxing great calls out Tszyu family reunion<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Lawyer says Mam could cop 14 years jail<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Hewitt's telling Demon hint ahead of Davis Cup\ufeff<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Australian teammates Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne have been vocal about their preference to see Smith return to his favoured role in the batting order<\/a>\ufeff.<\/p>\n

Smith revealed he had discussed his batting preference with captain Pat Cummins<\/a> and coach Andrew McDonald but did not rule out returning to the opening role.<\/p>\n

"\ufeffI said, 'I'm happy to bat wherever you'd like me to bat but four would be my ideal position'," Smith said.<\/p>\n

\"Steve<\/p>\n

"I'm not really too fussed – I got asked where I'd prefer to bat and I said four.<\/p>\n

"I saw a few things last week saying I requested to bat at four – that wasn't the case.<\/p>\n

"I'm happy to bat wherever \ufeff(McDonald would) like me to bat.<\/p>\n

"There's a spot there now with Greeny out, and I think just conversations we had after New Zealand (tour), particularly with Marnus and Uzzy, they hated me up top to be honest. They wanted me behind them, that was a big part of it."<\/p>\n

Smith said the pair wished to have a greater sense of "security" behind them in the batting order.<\/p>\n

"They call it security behind them, in a way," he continued.<\/p>\n

"Ask them about it, but they were pretty strong on me not batting (as opener)."<\/p>\n

\"Teen<\/p>\n

It is unclear what the exact batting order for the national team will be for the summer series against India, however focus has turned to Green's replacement.<\/p>\n

Star prospect Sam Konstas is pleading his case to earn an international call up<\/a> after a remarkable start to the Sheffield Shield<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The 19-year-old's success in the tournament, having scored back-to-back centuries<\/a>, was one that has not gone unnoticed by the former Australian captain. \ufeff<\/p>\n

"He's a bright prospect," said Smith.<\/p>\n

"You've got to remember he's only 19 as well. He's got a lot of time but what I've seen so far looks promising."<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Steve Smith has dismissed reports he requested to be moved back into the middle order as Cricket Australia continue hunting for an opening partner for […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":425691,"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\/427815"}],"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=427815"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/427815\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":427819,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/427815\/revisions\/427819"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/425691"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=427815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=427815"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=427815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}