McDonald reveals he & Cummins decided to move Smith back to number four in Tests

New Delhi, Oct 19 (IANS) Australia men’s head coach Andrew McDonald revealed he and skipper Pat Cummins decided to move back Steve Smith to batting at number four in Tests, following a brief stint of him opening the batting.

Smith moved up from number four to opening the batting in Tests after David Warner's retirement but he didn’t have much success, scoring 171 runs at an average of 28.50 in matches against West Indies and New Zealand.

"That falls to Patty and myself and around making that final decision. We just felt like as a collective, as in the leadership group, it was best for the team for him to make that shift away from opening. Clearly, we felt at the stage last year that it was the best for the team for him to open."

"It allowed us to get Cameron (Green) into that No.4 slot. As time unfolds, you map out what the future looks like, and we've got different challenges this summer. That was a collective decision. Ultimately, that's one that Steve doesn't make," said McDonald on ABC Radio’s Summer Grandstand show on Saturday.

With Usman Khawaja set to open in Tests, the race of who partners him at the top will be keenly watched from Sunday when Marcus Harris, Cameron Bancroft, Matthew Renshaw and young gun Sam Konstas will play for their respective teams in the next round of Sheffield Shield.

With Harris, Bancroft and Konstas in Australia ‘A’ squad for two four-day games against India ‘A’, to be played at Mackay and Melbourne later this month, McDonald stated all above-mentioned names are in contention for the all-important Border-Gavaskar Trophy series, starting on November 22 in Perth.

"The work that Sam Konstas did in the first Shield game, has given him an opportunity within the Australia A set-up and to go about his business as well. We've got a bit of an eye to the future in some of the (Australia A) selections, and a bit of an eye to here and now."

“Instead, the usual candidates are being talked about: Bancroft, Harris, Renshaw, as well as Konstas. But it’s not a bat-off, all factors will be taken into consideration. We've got some left-handed options, some right-handed options."

"We've got some guys that have piled on runs over a period of time, so it's what we reward at that point in time. But they're all in the conversation at the moment," concluded McDonald.

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