Australia coach Andrew McDonald confirmed that Steve Smith is still in contention for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024.
Before the start of the ongoing T20I series against
New Zealand, Australia's T20I skipper Mitchell Marsh outlined his team’s
composition, confirming that the top order was fairly settled, with David
Warner, Travis Head, and himself occupying the first three positions.
“I've batted (at) three for the last 18 months, so
I'll be there to start with. And obviously Heady and Davey Warner have been
amazing for us over the last period of time, so I daresay that will be the top
three,” Marsh said on the eve of the series opener.
Steve Smith's role in T20I line-up a puzzle
This along with the fact that Australia have a
packed middle-order featuring options like Glenn Maxwell, Josh Inglis, Matt
Short, and Tim David, raises questions about Smith’s position in the T20 World
Cup lineup.
Smith had taken the top-order role in recent times
for Australia.
However, coach McDonald confirmed that the batter
was still pretty much in the running for the global tournament, which Australia
won in 2021. He stated that Smith would get an opportunity as the side would
look to trial different combinations leading up to the World Cup.
Speaking after Australia’s win over New Zealand in
the first T20I in Wellington, McDonald said, “If he wasn't in our thinking then
he wouldn't be on the plane over here.
“We're playing him for a reason,” McDonald continued
discussing Smith, “He'll get some opportunity here, he had some opportunities
in India at the back end of a World Cup, and we were planning for him to play
in South Africa as well going as far back as August-September [2023], but he
unfortunately had a wrist injury at the time.”
“He's definitely in the thoughts. We'll probably
play him in a slightly different role to what we've seen in previous World Cups
in T20 cricket. “He’s gone to the top of the order in recent times, so batting
high up there's still competition for places.
“I suppose that's a good problem to have.”
Middle-order performer Tim David is starting to earn
a reputation as one of the best finishers in T20I cricket 🙌
— ICC (@ICC) February 22, 2024
McDonald stressed the importance of the upcoming
games, stating that they’d help Australia figure out their best possible squad
for the World Cup in West Indies and USA,
“There are 20 players that are in our thinking,
we're not settled in terms of the final 15 at this stage and that are why these
games are really important
“And we've got a lot of our players in IPL as well,
so we get another look at what certain players are doing in that competition
which is probably the biggest connection to international cricket.
“We're not going to get to a final 11 as we sit
here, but we'll work through to a 15 and give ourselves as many options in that
15 to negate what the West Indies surfaces will challenge us with.”
The last two T20Is in the ongoing series will be
played in Auckland on 23 and 25 February respectively.
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