Everyone is assuming that Steve Smith moving back down the order will mean he returns to the run machine of years gone by. But that is no longer the guarantee it once was. Even though sanity has prevailed and Smith is returning to his favourite No.
4 slot in the Australian Test team, recent form and the fact that he is on the wrong side of 35 suggests he is no longer the bankable anchor who can hold the team’s innings together if early wickets tumble. Whether it was his idea, coach Andrew McDonald’s or the selection panel finally making a tough decision, Smith’s return to the middle-order makes sense. More Cricket But what if he continues to struggle? In his past 21 innings, Smith has made it past 50 on only three occasions.
Going back to the start of the tour to India last year, he is averaging a modest 36.14 with just two tons in 17 Tests – in the World Test Championship final against the same opponent and the second Ashes Test at Lord’s. It is not what most Test batters would call a form slump but it shows that he has not been the reliable rock of previous years.
In the 92 Tests beforehand, he had one of the greatest averages of all time at 60.89 with a success rate of a century every third match. Smith spent several years as either the undoubted best or one of the top three Test batters in world cricket.
England rival Joe Root is the runaway leader now at the top of the rankings, New Zealand’s Kane Williamson has managed to maintain a seat at the big dogs’ ta.