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Ahead of Australia’s Test tour against Pakistan in October, much of the debate about Australia’s line-up has revolved around the number three batting spot.
Alex Doolan is the incumbent but is yet to bed it down. Shane Watson was his predecessor but the selectors seem to believe he is better suited at six, where he can gain more rest after completing the bowling duties which are critical to team balance.
After a solid, if unremarkable debut in Australia’s 2-1 against South Africa early this year, Doolan deserves further opportunities.
However, if the Tasmanian fails to seize them, Australia should seriously consider grooming Steve Smith as their long-term number three.
Rampaging opener David Warner may have stolen the show this past summer, but Smith’s development into a world-class Test stroke player was almost as significant.
The 24-year-old is now arguably the side’s most reliable batsman under pressure. In his past nine Tests, the New South Welshman has pillaged 741 runs at 57, including four centuries.
Crucially, those four tons and his next best score of 84 all came in the first innings of Tests. Of those five pivotal knocks, three were constructed amid the carnage of an Australian collapse. Smith displayed admirable maturity, patience and intellect in steering his side clear of destruction on each occasion.
He is now the most-rounded batsman in the side after Michael Clarke, increasingly assured and productive against pace and famously nimble when facing spin.
His reading of the game has also blossomed. Smith has become equally at ease whether starting his innings in an assertive fashion to maintain his side’s ascendancy, or in a sedate, cautious manner to halt the march of the opposition attack.
He can shift gears in his batting seamlessly, an attribute which is often overlooked when assessing the quality of a Test batsman. This is one of the hallmarks of a great first drop.
The likes of South African number three Hashim Amla and legendary Australian Ricky Ponting have all the strokes in the manual but could shelve them with comfort when required. Smith appears to be of similar ilk. He batted number three for NSW in their last two Shield games last summer, including the final in which they triumphed.
Despite also shouldering the burden of captaincy, Smith flourished in those high-stakes fixtures, registering scores of 48, 89, 75 and 103 not out.
There is, of course, no need to rush him into the number three role. As I wrote a few months back, Doolan gave cause for optimism with his staunch performances during Australia’s 2-1 series win in South Africa.
He deserves a decent run at first drop to determine whether he is up to Test cricket. Australia cannot continue the dizzying rotations in that role, which saw it filled by no less than seven players in the space of 15 months up to Doolan’s inclusion.
Australia have tried to insert inexperienced Test players into that position with no success, parachuting the likes of Usman Khawaja, Phil Hughes and Ed Cowan into the most challenging spot within the batting order.
So if Doolan does not make that position his own, perhaps it would be time to hand it over to a settled member of the team in Smith. That would allow whichever new batsman comes into the team in place of Doolan a far easier introduction, or re-introduction, to Tests down the order.
Australia then would also have their three most accomplished batsmen – Smith, Warner and Michael Clarke – in their top four, which would surely go some way towards reducing the frequency of top-order disintegrations.
Watson, too, would have claims to return to number three if Doolan were to be dropped. He produced his best cricket in many years in that position over the back-to-back Ashes Tests. His career record also shows that his output with the blade is maximised when he is stationed in the top three.
But Australia have patently made the decision that they wish him to end his career in the middle order so as to make it less burdensome for him to also act as the fifth bowler.
An injury-plagued cricketer who will soon turn 33, Watson would be a stop-gap replacement at first drop.
Smith, meanwhile, relishes a challenge. He could well take his game to another level if handed the task of holding down first drop.
For the moment, Doolan should be given the chance to prove himself in the baggy green. But if he falters it is Smith, not Watson or a newcomer, who should take over at number three.