Smith’s open invitation

Selectors chief indicates ‘Smudge’ will stay at the top

Steve Smith is set to continue his polarising tenure as Australia’s opening batsman following the release of a contract list that shows selectors are still unsure who is next in line.

Although there are nine months until Australia lines up for its first Test against India in Perth, national selector George Bailey has strongly indicated Smith will stay put at the top of the order, although there could be a change of heart for the tour of Sri Lanka in 12 months’ time when Travis Head might go up as a horses for courses opener.

The fact Matthew Renshaw could work that top six function as well as it can.

“I think there’s some improvement to come there and I think India will be a huge challenge across the summer.

“Given the performances of the team over a period of time, I think the onus is on those outside to make a really compelling case of why someone should be displaced.

“I do think that the guys we have there are in the team for a reason. That top seven are all very good players, they’ve had good performances across a long period of time. We’ll continue to back them and expect them to perform.

“It’s hard to project forward to something that’s 10 months to away … but I don’t think our thinking around it will change.”

However, Bailey said shifting an established middleorder superstar like Smith to a completely untried position opening the batting was purely due to the priority made of getting a prodigy in Cameron Green into the XI – and is unlikely to be repeated again.

Selectors have the power to hand out 24 contracts but settled on 23, including newcomers Xavier Bartlett, Aaron Hardie and Matt Short.

The decision to go one short was largely because selectors admit there is no obvious next batsman in line who deserves to be rewarded or anointed.