Batsman Steve Smith, Australia's premier batter, will return to batting in the middle-order for the side in the five-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy series against India later this year. This has been confirmed by chief selector George Bailey.
Smith had come up from number four to open for Tests after the retirement of David Warner post the Pakistan game at Sydney. But opening for four Tests against West Indies and New Zealand, Smith wasn't able to deliver; he scored 171 runs with an average of 28.50.
Meanwhile, Bailey has not indicated if Smith would return to batting at No. 4. "Pat, Andrew and Steve Smith had been discussing this matter over a period of time in isolation of the unfortunate injury to Cameron (Green).
"Steve had expressed a desire to move back down from that opening position, and Pat and Andrew have confirmed that he will be dropping back down the order for the summer. So, clearly we've got a No. 4 spot to fill and an opening spot to fill," Bailey told reporters in Melbourne.
Therein lie three youngsters who the selectors will keenly watch to see who of them will help fill the vacancy in the opener's slot and play out alongside Usman Khawaja. The three have been named in the 17-man Australia A squad that will face India A in two four-day games at Mackay and Melbourne on October 31 and November 7 respectively.
Bailey said of Konstas, who scored twin centuries in last week's Sheffield Shield match for New South Wales against South Australia in Sydney, "was in the mix" for a call-up to the Test team.
"He is in the mix as are plenty of others. I certainly don't want to single him out. I think the consistency of Cam Bancroft and Marcus Harris over a number of years, they've both had a look at Test cricket as well. So I don't think there's any need at this stage to put undue pressure expectation on Sam."
"He's five games into his first-class career. He's had a good start to that, and he certainly looks like he's got a well-organized game that we're really excited and looking forward to seeing at the A level, and we'll just continue to watch as that progresses."
Bailey signed off saying Bancroft picking a pair during the last week's Sheffield Shield match of Western Australia against Queensland in Perth, won't affect his chances of getting into the Test team.
"'I spoke to Cam after that game, I sort of jokingly said to him, if he hadn't been in such good nick, he might have played and missed those as well. So that might be a really good sign for the rest of the summer. There's plenty of batters that have managed to get a feather on an early Michael Neser ball.'"
"So no harm done. He's certainly got credits in the bank. His consistency over a number of years has been phenomenal, as have a number of those other players I've mentioned. A one-off game like that wasn't going to have any impact."
Read also| Fakhar Responds to Babar's Snub: 'India Didn't Bench Virat During His Rough Patch'
