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If Australia’s strategy to start the Test at the top
does not work out, a revitalised Steven Smith has not given any thought to what
it might imply for his future.
Smith’s life at the top of the order started on Sunday
when he faced the new ball at the Adelaide Oval nets, three days before the
opening Test match against the West Indies.
One of Australia’s all-time best batters, Smith said
he suggested starting last year’s Ashes in place of the retiring David Warner.
He brought it up once more last month, but he didn’t think coaches were
considering it until they spoke with him during Pakistan’s SCG Test.
“I’ve kind of been pushing it for a few weeks,
even before Perth I think, and I might have been floated in England just
randomly and said ‘I’ll get up top and I’m happy to play up top’,” he
said. “In Perth, I kind of said ‘you know after Davey’s done I’m actually
keen to get up there’.
“I don’t think they sort of took me seriously
until I got to Sydney and I was like ‘I’m actually being genuine here. I’d be
keen to get up top and face the new ball.’ And they were like, ‘all right,
well, we’ll take that under advisement and see how it all looks.’
But the move doesn’t come without risk. And the
question remains that if Smith does not succeed and Cameron Green excels at No.
4, what would it mean for the former captain’s place in the side?
“I don’t like thinking that way,” Smith
said. “I don’t want to think negative thoughts at all. I’m not sure. If
someone gets injured in the middle and the next batters in are genuine openers,
then maybe they slot back in [at the top] and I go back down. I don’t know the
answer. But for right now we’ve got what we believe is our best six batters
playing.”