SYDNEY: Australia coach Andrew McDonald thinks the top six batsmen who finished the last Test season are likely to start the much-anticipated five-match series against India later this year, but not necessarily in the same order.

Steve Smith moved up from number four to open the batting after the test retirement of David Warner midway through last season and McDonald said it was by no means certain he would stay there.

“While we’ve got an eye to it, we haven’t made any firm decisions around that one,” McDonald told SEN radio from England on Wednesday.

“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 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. We’ve seen Cameron Green be really successful at number four as well. So that adds layers to the decision-making.

“But nothing is firm and fixed at the moment.”

While Smith hardly set the world on fire in his outings as an opener, Green scored 174 not out against New Zealand at number four in the last series of last season.

Regardless of what the selectors decide about whether Smith opens, his place in the side alongside Green, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh looks assured.

“We’ve spoken about that, and we’re still a big believer in the best six batters,” he added. “We feel as though that the team that finished in New Zealand, should they get a clean run at it and be well prepared, then they would be the best-placed players to fill that, there’s no doubt about that.”

McDonald said Australia would prioritise the series against India in the home summer and might rest Test players from the white-ball series against Pakistan that precedes it to allow them to play red-ball cricket in the Sheffield Shield. The India series opens in Perth on Nov. 22 with tests following in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney.

Published in Dawn, September 12th, 2024