Will Steve Smith succeed as a Test opener?
Which player would experiment like this at the age of 34?
Shout out to our new sponsor Nord VPN. Click on their link and get your EXCLUSIVE Deal. Get a Huge Discount off your NordVPN Plan + 4 additional months for free! If you don’t like it, cancel it within 30 days.
Jerome Taylor is fired up at Kingston on a green wicket called ‘tacky’ by Michael Clarke. David Warner is out trying to fend off a ball that bounced off the length and carried to third slip, Smith has to walk out to bat in the 1st over of the innings for the first time in his Test career.
Taylor is still on a roll, as he gets Shaun Marsh in the 5th over with a fast inswinger that thudded into his front pad.
Smith is almost unfazed by the drama at the other end. He is in his own space, floating around the universe looking for runs. He scores 199 on a wicket where no other batter crosses 50. Clarke was the next-best, with 47.
The 26-year-old Smith had this to say on coming in early in the innings.
"Sometimes guys are going to miss out and I could be in on the first ball. I've got my head around that.”
Now he will be facing the first ball on purpose.
His captain from that match, Michael Clarke, strongly supported the decision of Steve Smith opening the batting in whites. He also said that the former Australian skipper will become the best opener in the world in the next 12 months.
We have never really seen anything like this before. The world’s best batter, at the beginning of his twilight, just actively campaigning for a new career opening the batting. Which player would experiment like this at the age of 34? When Smith told the team he wanted to do this, they didn’t believe him, because, who would? It sounds like a prank.
So is Clarke right? Will Steve Smith really succeed as a Test opener?
Although Smith has never opened in Test or first-class cricket, Smith’s best batting average when he bats in the top five is at number three, where he averages 67. He took up the role from 2015 to 2017, after which he returned to his usual number 4 position. While the right-hander delivered his finest-ever performance in a Test series on his return in the 2019 Ashes, Marnus also solidified himself as a quality number three, so Smith had no reason to return there.
Anirudh Suresh at cricket.com did a brilliant piece on Steve Smith’s promotion as an opener. He talked about how well Smith has done in matches where he had to bat in the first 10 overs. Importantly, he has been able to cash in after getting through the tougher period up top.
Apart from the absolute cricket nerd in Smith being excited about not having to wait for his turn to bat, he also says that it is not new for him to face the new ball from his experience of batting at number 3.
We know he bats his best in the first innings, when there is no narrative except batting. You would assume that psychologically it suits his personality, especially in the first innings, where he can just mark his guard and bat.
Smith averages a massive 75 in the first innings when Australia lose the toss and are sent in to bat first. It's the third-highest average ever for batters with at least 1000 runs, only Doug Walters (who was a lower-order batter) and Matthew Hayden are above him.
And if you are wondering why that matters, winning the toss and batting first averages five runs more per wicket than being sent in on the first day. That means when the opposition sent Smith in because they thought the wicket might help, he hammered them.
Openers have to face a lot of pace bowling. And Smith doesn’t seem to have a weakness against it, though he is much better against righties than lefties. His average of almost 50 is still way better than the global seam average of 30.36 for southpaw seamers since his debut.
If you look since the start of 2010, Smith is an outlier here. He is averaging 6 more than the next best, AB de Villiers. You also have to factor in that de Villiers played just one season in the pace pandemic. He is well above the rest of his peers in the Fab Four against the fast bowlers.
Smith is just not human against pace bowling. A clear level above even the other great batters of his era.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Good Areas to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.