Smith puts up his hand to open batting

Sydney – Steve Smith will open the batting alongside Usman Khawaja against the West Indies in place of the retired David Warner, Australia selectors said yesterday, with all-rounder Cameron Green coming in at number four.

Warner bowed out of Test cricket the weekend after the last Test against Pakistan in Sydney, having been a fixture at the top of the order for 12 years.

Recognised openers Cameron Bancroft, Marcus Harris and Matt Renshaw were long seen as the main contenders to fill the role, until Smith last week said he wanted to do the job.

“Steve Smith will be opening the batting and Cameron Green will be coming into the number four position which is fantastic,” chief selector George Bailey told reporters.

“Steve’s motivated and energised and keen to do it.

“It’s a challenge for him, it’s something...he thinks he can do. It’s an itch he’d like to scratch and ultimately for us, as a team, it’s something that fits.”

The highly-rated Green has been sidelined recently by a resurgent Mitchell Marsh, who has assumed the all-rounder role.

Shifting Smith up the order, rather than opting for a specialist opener, allowed selectors to bring Green back primarily as a batsman.

“The way the rest of that batting order is functioning left us feeling like we have someone who we think is pretty talented, who potentially was going to find it hard to get any Test cricket in the next period,” Bailey said of Green.

“I don’t think that’s going to be particularly beneficial for Greeny. We can get a lot of benefits out of him playing.”

Renshaw was handed a Test lifeline as the only change in a 13man squad for the two-Test series starting on 17 January in Adelaide, leaving Bancroft and Harris out in the cold.

It’s a blow for Bancroft, who is the leading run-scorer in Sheffield Shield. –