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The hunt is on for Australia’s next opening batsman
now that David Warner has retired. Warner has been in that role for thirteen
years, so one thing is certain. It takes time to locate a successor for him.
The search has started since word of Warner’s goodbye leaked. The great Ricky
Ponting has expressed his desire for Cameron Bancroft to fill the position,
while Michael Clarke has backed Steve Smith to move up the order and replace
the opening instead of searching outside the present Australian Test team.
In addition to backing Smith to become the world’s
finest opener within a year of beginning to open the innings, Clarke, an
Australian captain who won the World Cup in the past, believes that Smith can
“smudge” the opener so much that he may threaten Brian Lara’s 400-run
record.
Although skipper Pat Cummins may not be too fond of
the concept, Clarke is more than happy to have Smith and Usman Khawaja start at
first base for Australia starting in the upcoming Test series.
“I’ll tell you now about Steve Smith. If he wants
to open the batting and they give him the chance, he will be the No. 1 Test
opener within 12 months. He is that good a player. He is technically good
enough, he lets the ball go well, he’s got a great eye, he’s got beautiful
hands. Yes, he might nick the occasional one, he might get LBW but tell me
someone that doesn’t. He is that good a player, and maybe it is the challenge
he is looking for,” the former Australia captain.
Nearly 6000 of Smith’s 9500 Test run total have came
at batting No. 4 at an average of 61.51. Smith has batted third eleven times
and has scored 1744 runs at a batting average of 67.08. He has also had some
success at that position. Whether he manages to surpass the legendary Lara’s
record, though, seems like a stretch at this time.