In a side boasting hard-hitting talent from top to lower order, Steve Smith appears to be an anomaly in Australia’s T20I batting order and one which the selectors seem to be seriously considering as surplus to requirements.
To some he appears as a relic of a time when T20 was in its infancy.
Striking at mid-120s with an average barely over 25 he stands out as a potential weak link, surrounded by batsmen averaging 10 more runs per innings and striking at 15-25 more runs per 100 balls. However, the bare statistics do not tell the full story, as they rarely do.
The recent experiment pushing Aaron Finch down the order, ostensibly to give an opportunity to Cameron Green in the format at the top of the order, shows the dilemma faced by the Australian selectors.
There is no steady hand in the middle order. Australia have a plethora of batsmen both in and out of the current squad ready made to go hard from the outset and capitalise on a good start from a solid top three.
But what happens when the good start is not forthcoming? As we saw in Wednesday’s defeat at the hands of England we have a succession of batsmen who can make 40-odd off 20-odd but are susceptible to high-quality bowling and making loose decisions.
This continued down the order to the point that Australia ran out of specialist batsmen during the chase, leaving Matthew Wade to try and finish with Pat Cummins and falling short. If Australia’s best bowling line up is selected as it was Wednesday, the tail is long with Cummins and Mitchell Starc at 8 and 9 and only Adam Zampa and Josh Hazlewood to follow.
Australia will face better attacks and more challenging conditions in the upcoming World Cup. Having Smith puttering along at just over a run a ball may just have made the difference on Wednesday and will undoubtedly assist in similar scenarios throughout the tournament.
(Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
Why? Having Smith to work around gives his hard hitting teammates a reliable anchor, meaning they can go hard and not concern themselves overly with the prospect of their own dismissal leading to collapse. It frees up players like Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis and Tim David to maximise their aggressive intent and lessens the blow when the inevitable miscue to the outfield or missed straight ball comes along.
Smith is also an excellent foil for such batsmen, capable of rotating the strike and quick between the wickets, turning ones into twos and twos to threes.
While he may not be the man to take a potential score of 180 to 200-plus, he will undoubtedly take the occasional faltering innings through to a defendable score. Australia are as likely to face such scenarios as they are to be in need of pushing their total beyond 10 per over.
Without him in the team Australia risk becoming one dimensional and will lack resilience when facing challenging scenarios. Ironically, given the build-up to the tournament and the speculation about the composition of the squad, as a batsman alone Green would probably be the ideal replacement were Smith to be left out of a given line-up.
Despite his underwhelming overall statistics Smith is also capable of upping the ante when required and has played remarkable individual innings in T20 cricket in the past, particularly in the IPL.
He is also a modern great of the game with an aura possessed by only a very select few of his contemporaries – teams will know Australia is not beaten while Smith is at the crease. Smith is a big-game player with an eye for crucial moments, an excellent fielder and the team stands taller when he’s there.
Perhaps this line of thinking is outdated and given the flat pitches that will be prepared this tournament a line-up full of sloggers is the way to go. However, I’m sure Australia’s opponents will be breathing easier with him out of the side than in.
Hutton's ghost
Roar Rookie
Apparently, not unlike his spiritual ancestor Ken "Slasher" Mackay, Tavare was a different batsman at first class level with an array of shots. Hard to imagine though....
jammel
Roar Rookie
Tavere's strike rate in tests was 30! But it wasn't all bad. He averaged 33 which could get him an opening role for England these days :) (He also scored 25000 first class runs with 48 tons!)
The Iron Dingo
Roar Rookie
Hard to sneak in but always worth it when the opportunity presents - the batsman I most remember when thinking of the term 'glacial'
The Iron Dingo
Roar Rookie
You are confusing technically sound with orthodox :happy:
jammel
Roar Rookie
Haha - like the Chris Tavare reference!
qwetzen
Roar Rookie
I can definitely think of situations where a technically sound batsman might come in handy Hang on. I thought you wanted Smith?
The Iron Dingo
Roar Rookie
It's not like we're talking about Chris Tavare here. I can definitely think of situations where a technically sound batsman might come in handy - perhaps a situation where we lose two wickets off the first two balls of the innings? Don't say it can't happen.
qwetzen
Roar Rookie
Right. So in a T20 you need a slow-scoring batter because... Dang! I can't think why...
Andrew
Guest
AUS will have to revamp their T20I setup post this WC Batsmen: Head, McDermott, T David, Heazlett, J Sangha All-rounders: Marsh, Stoinis, Green, Hardie WK: Inglis, Philippe Fast Bowlers: Meredith, Ellis, J Richardson, H Kerr, L Morris Spinners: Agar, Zampa, Kuhnemann, T Sangha
Tempo
Roar Rookie
Not sure I agree that Steve Smith would have improved Australia's performance in either of their two losses. Him scoring 30(25) would have made the job for the rest of the team harder, not easier. He is a net negative to the team in most T20Is where the par score is higher than around 140. In the first match, Australia lost the game in the fielding innings by starting poorly and allowing England to score 130 for the first wicket at 12rpo. If Smith had been in the side, scoring at a 120 SR, we probably lose by 20 runs instead of 8. In the second match, the difference was in our fielding. Australia dropped multiple catches and let through boundaries/sixes with misfields/poor positioning. England fielded incredibly well and saved vital runs (e.g., Stokes stopping a six at long off) and took all their catches.
The Iron Dingo
Roar Rookie
Fair enough and thanks for reading. I still think there's a place for Smith in this Australian team but have some sympathy for your overall point. I can just see a Rabada or Boult looking to go through the Aussies at a crucial stage in the tourney and no-one in the team with the wherewithal to keep them out.
Andrew
Guest
The problem with Smith is that he plays more dot balls. He takes too much time to settle. That forces the batsmen at the other end to play false shots. If he wants to be in the T20I team, then he has to maintain a strike rate of 120 (minimum). Unfortunately, he can't do it while batting @ 4. Steve Smith (in T20Is): Batting Position - 3 -> Innings: 18; Runs: 559; Best: 90; Average: 34.94; S/R: 139.05 Batting Position - 4 -> Innings: 11; Runs: 209; Best: 61*; Average: 26.13; S/R: 108.85
Tempo
Roar Rookie
Thanks for a thought provoking article, but I unfortunately can't agree. Smith's time as a T20I player has come and gone, with the possible exception of extreme bowler-friendly conditions (such as we had in Bangladesh last year). At the moment Smith is neither a fast scorer or a reliable scorer in T20 cricket. This mythical reliability does not exist - when is the last time he played a match-winning innings or stablised an innings in T20 cricket? Since the start of the pandemic, he has played 22 T20Is and averages 19 at a strike rate of 116 - there is no justification for picking a player which such bad stats. In T20 cricket you have 120 balls available during a batting innings. That means the average batter in your team only needs to survive 12 balls each. You obviously want your top 7 facing most of the bowling, but even then 17 balls each would see your top 7 bat out the innings. What is the value in having a player crawl along at a 120 SR and chew up balls that more explosive hitters could take advantage of? The more powerful hitters in the line-up are more than capable of hanging around for 17 balls on average, and even if they weren't, 160 all out in 15 overs is a better T20 score than 5/145 off 20 overs. The era of slow T20 anchors is over. There are anchors these days who can score reliably and at a fast (140+) rate - guys like Dave Warner, Jos Buttler, Rohit Sharma etc. Having a guy who scores slowly and keeps making low scores makes no sense (although at least Smith isn't scoring slowly and making bigger scores - after all 50(40) is a worse innings than 25(20) in T20 cricket).
Clear as mud
Guest
So hers to go at 100 and then everyone can just go at 200. No.
Clear as mud
Guest
Who. When. Where Outrage for the sake of outrage
The Iron Dingo
Roar Rookie
Good call re England Ghost - a more imposing and flexible unit than Australia's 'my way or the highway' approach. Agree re Smith as well - I think he'll retire from international T20 after this tourney either way.
The Iron Dingo
Roar Rookie
I think Smith is worth his place for one last hurrah in a home tournament. I've never rated Finch but he has the results in the past - just one of those things where they've held on a little too long and now it's not ideal for Australia that he's still there but a bit too late to change the captain before the tournament. Can't begrudge any pro sportsman chasing the money or wanting to play - it's the selectors job to tell when they're past it.
The Iron Dingo
Roar Rookie
Thanks Frank - if that kind of talk re Stoinis is still about I would use the term madness ahead of folly.
Hutton's ghost
Roar Rookie
Australia’s current approach involving a line up of crash or bash allrounders has already been exposed by England in the two warm ups so far. By contrast, England have a core of specialist batters more capable of adapting in a crisis. Steve Smith is the best batsman in the country in other formats and surely his worth in T20s hasn’t just evaporated in the last couple of weeks. Although he’s suddenly being treated as a pariah, the selectors can’t bring themselves to axe him completely. Either Smith’s in the squad and plays or he should be totally out of the picture. Having him run the drinks doesn’t benefit anyone.
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
The reason senior players are all desperate to be in the T20 team, is because they think they go to the world cup one or two good innings and then its going to lead to multiple huge pay days with the IPL with its new deal will mean doubled salaries and the connected leagues. It used to be players would retire from limited overs before test cricket now its the reverse. There is no reason for Steve Smith and Aaron Finch to be in the team they are both getting on and have both declined. If someone else gets a go ahead of them then there goes there chance and the other person gets the chance to score the contracts.