Steve Smith may well become a good T20 player one day. But right now he is ordinary and his recent promotion to captain of the Australian T20 team at the expense of Aaron Finch was a major mistake.
It smacked of favouritism for there was no justification in ditching Finch, the world’s No.1-ranked T20 batsman, for a player in Smith who has minimal achievements or form in the shortest format.
Finch currently is slaying attacks in the Indian Premier League, with 191 runs at 64, whereas Smith has made a poor start to the season, having been selected for Rising Pune Supergiants seemingly based only on his excellence in the longer formats.
From his first five matches this IPL season, Smith had 78 runs at 19, with a dawdling strike rate of 123, after scraping together 83 runs at 21 in the World Cup. His record for Australian in the shortest format also is very poor – an average 21 at strike rate of 122 after 30 matches.
In the World T20 Australia required Smith to play a straightforward role and he failed. In a team brimming with power hitters, Smith needed only to turn the strike over consistently by picking the gaps and running hard.
This should be an elementary task for a batsman of his pedigree, who has an extraordinary average of 60 in Tests and has become an elite ODI player over the past two years.
Smith at times has seemed not to recognise his role in T20s. He is not required to destroy attacks for every side he has played for has had enough other batsmen to whom such dynamism comes natural.
For the moment, he is not suited to taking on T20 bowlers. While he has a wide array of strokes and a glut of natural talent, Smith’s efforts at bullying T20 attacks tend to look forced and awkward.
He would do well to model himself on Joe Root. Rarely does the England superstar arrive at the crease and immediately try to boss the opposition in T20. He works his way into innings, allowing very few dot balls, which itself puts bowlers under pressure.
In his first 20 to 30 balls faced Root typically looks to attack only those deliveries which are in his hitting zones. Only later in his innings does he seek to manufacture boundaries.
This is the type of batsman Smith could and should become – the modern-day anchorman.
But he should be honing this approach in domestic leagues, not in the Australian team, in which he has not earned his place. The way in which Smith bumped Finch out of the national team just before the World T20 was similar to Michael Clarke’s return to the ODI side at the expense of stand-in skipper George Bailey for last year’s 50-over World Cup.
At the time there was significant debate about the merits of this move. Many fans and pundits argued that Clarke had no right to the captaincy or even a place in the ODI XI. Yet Clarke had an astounding ODI record and was replacing a player in Bailey who was amid an extended form trough.
Compare that to Smith, who has an awful Twenty20 record and replaced a player in Finch who was amid an extended form bonanza. Having made such a big captaincy call, the selectors are unlikely to back away from it anytime soon.
Smith will have an extended run in the Australian T20 side. Perhaps by the time the next World T20 rolls around in four years’ time, hosted in Australia, he will have blossomed into the elite T20 player his talent suggests he can be. But, for the moment, he’s extremely lucky to be Australian captain.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
Yep, a lot can change in a few days in T20 cricket. Suddenly Smith is well up on the top runscorers chart with a 150 strike rate and one of only 3 centurions in the IPL so far this year.
World in Cricket
Guest
@ Praveen, I agree with you 100% ... Smith is the best leader of men in all formats and under his and Warner's leadership Australia is best placed to improve in T20. IPL is a different kettle of fish playing in those conditions
Amith
Guest
Well said Ronan, i think this will be a turning point for smith, great century
Allahu Snackbar
Roar Rookie
This might be the most poorly timed article in the site's history. Just two days later, Smith hits a century with a huge strike rate while Finch is dropped for poor performance.
ozinsa
Guest
Surprised at the sort of 100 he scored. Always assumed he'd be more of the 150 best rate but apparently you spurred him to outperform Ronan. Fingers crossed the article doesn't lead to Finch having a slump now.
Barbz
Guest
Egg, meet face.
Praveen
Guest
So smith got a century last night and now has more runs then finch, will that prove that smith is all class in all formats
AlanKC
Guest
Ronan, you and Warnie might be in line for appointments as motivators of the Australian team given his effort with Starc and yours with Smithy :)
Mahee Hossain
Guest
Well Steve Smith just got a hundred, and Finch is not even playing. T20 changes in the blink of an eye.
Ronan O'Connell
Expert
"It’s never a good idea to fire at great players is it? Since this article was penned, he’s scored a winning 50no in a low scoring game and a ton at basically 200." Is it just a coincidence that Smith was struggling before I got involved? Look back through the finest performances by Australian cricketers in recent years and you'll find most of them were precipitated by one of my articles. If I stopped writing for The Roar the Aussies would be in a massive hole. In all seriousness though, good on him, two great knocks on the trot. As I said in the article his talent suggests he should be a fine T20 player, maybe this can be his breakthrough moment.
The Bush
Roar Guru
Might be finding his feet now...
Derek Murray
Roar Rookie
It's never a good idea to fire at great players is it? Since this article was penned, he's scored a winning 50no in a low scoring game and a ton at basically 200. No argument about Finch but Smith was always in our best XI even if he had a relatively quite period.
Alex L
Roar Rookie
Number one at choking perhaps.
Sanjay Poojar
Guest
All is no good when compare to Virat India number one !!!
NYCric
Guest
How do Guptill and Khawaja get compensated in IPL since both come in as a replacement outside of auction?
Fox
Roar Guru
"Steve Smith may well become a good T20 player one day. But right now he is ordinary and his recent promotion to captain of the Australian T20 team at the expense of Aaron Finch was a major mistake. It smacked of favouritism for there was no justification in ditching Finch, the world’s No.1-ranked T20 batsman, for a player in Smith who has minimal achievements or form in the shortest format." Well said Ronan and I could not agree more with the above statements. New Zealand's Kane Williamson opens the batting but like Joe Root he plays a controlled innings. I never thought Smith should have been in the T20 side and handing him the captains job was nothing but an insult to Finch. Finch has not set the world on fire in the ODI format in recent times, and especially with consistency, and one gets the feeling that counted against him after Smith was playing well in that format. Apart from one innings Smith was excess baggage ( mind you so was the so called "big show" with the bat) at the T20 WC and in spinning conditions Smith hardly ever bowled and he is not the worst with the ball and especially on some of those wickets. Quite frankly I am not convinced yet about Smith overall captaincy in the short formats. He is good test player and captain but some of his calls in the short formats are puzzling and have been costly even at the toss failing to read wickets on regular basis was not a good look.
ozinsa
Guest
That is the more salient point. Smith can play. He's a brilliant fielder - one of the best catchers I've ever seen. Also led a small chase perfectly yesterday but his captaincy at the WC was really poor. Finch was shafted and it didn't help the team one bit. Our best captain and our best T20 opener. Madness
Camo McD
Roar Guru
Hmmm, suspect that was the feeling of Rod Marsh and co. Probably something along the lines of 'How can we have a guy captaining Aus in a global tournament when he can't even get a game in the Sheffield Shield? It's not a good look.' The continued contention by some that T20 is not 'actual' or 'proper' cricket is getting pretty old. Crowds and viewers in their millions are not listening. I love cricket i any format. Finch should have been the first batsman picked in the Aus T20 team because he has particular strengths in his game that many test players do not. He was left out of the side and Australia lost a critical game in a global event. Test skipper Smith was thrust in at he last moment with clearly inferior credentials in the format and duly struggled with bat and more importantly with captaincy.
Chris
Guest
I feel about T20 like the FA cup, you only really care when you have been knocked out of everything else.
Chris
Guest
He hasnt shown it in T20. There is nothing wrong with not being able to play T20 as well as he can play tests. If he does become great at T20 fantastic but if he doesnt he doesnt and thats ok, i think most of us would prefer a mediocre T20 player and a great test player than the other way around.