“I’d be lying if I said the conversation wasn’t happening” – Andrew McDonald on Steve Smith’s batting position in Tests

Australia’s head coach Andrew McDonald said there have been continuous discussions regarding Steve Smith’s batting position in Test cricket. After David Warner’s retirement, Smith has opened the innings along with Usman Khawaja. Smith scored 171 runs in four Test matches at an average of 28.50 while opening against the West Indies and New Zealand.

Meanwhile, Smith has a fantastic record while batting at number four, scoring 5966 runs in 67 Test matches with an impressive average of 61.50, including 19 centuries.

“That’s the question on everyone’s lips, isn’t it? Whilst we’ve got an eye to it, we haven’t made any firm decisions around that one. There’s plenty of speculation around that. But in the background, I’d be lying if I said the conversation wasn’t happening. There are conversations around a lot of what ifs in terms of that Test summer that is to come,” McDonald told SEN ahead of the England tour.

McDonald added that the New South Wales team will be communicated regarding Smith’s batting position for the Sheffield Shield, keeping in mind the Border-Gavaskar trophy.

“We’ll unveil everything, and we’ll let (NSW coach) Greg Shipperd know what our plans are and then we’ll see what he does with his New South Wales side should Steve Smith play Shield cricket,” he added

The chief coach feels that the opinion of skipper Pat Cummins will matter a lot in deciding Smith’s batting slot against India.

“What am I willing to share? Not a lot at this stage. All I can say is the conversation’s happening. Clearly, Patty Cummins as the captain is a big part of that, he’s rehabbing at the moment, he’s not over here (in the UK),” McDonald said in the same interaction.

“We’ve already had some chats in Sydney initially around what we’re thinking for the summer, and that goes right down to depth bowling and what it looks like, all those hypotheticals and what ifs that we always go through. Clearly, if we make a shift with Steve Smith, then someone else will have to go to the top,” McDonald concluded.

The opening Test match between India and Australia will be played at Perth from November 22 onwards.