Australia’s two-match series against the West Indies later this week will see Steve Smith and Usman Khawaja open the batting for Australia.
After David Warner retired from Test cricket, star batsman Steve Smith was promoted to the opening position. Former Australia captain Kim Hughes has taken aim at the team management for this move. Australia won the series 3-0 after Warner’s final Test match was played earlier this month in Sydney against Pakistan. The Australian team management announced that Smith will open the innings with Usman Khawaja, beginning with a two-match series against West Indies later this week, despite Cameron Bancroft of Western Australia making a compelling case for himself to replace Warner.
Hughes said that he nearly “vomitted” when he learned of Smith’s promotion to the opening position. Hughes told WA Sports Talk, as cited by Sports ABC, “The former Australian captain took shots at the selection committee for ignoring Bancroft, who is in the form of his life.”
“I almost passed out. Without a question, Cameron Bancroft would be in the Test team if he were a player for New South Wales. He is at the height of his powers.”
Previously, Hughes felt that even though Smith is a superstar, the hitter has not been as successful lately and should return to his typical batting order of No. 4.
Hughes said that he nearly “vomitted” when he learned of Smith’s promotion to the opening position. Hughes told WA Sports Talk, as cited by Sports ABC, “The former Australian captain took shots at the selection committee for ignoring Bancroft, who is in the form of his life.”
“I almost passed out. Without a question, Cameron Bancroft would be in the Test team if he were a player for New South Wales. He is at the height of his powers.”
The other thing, which is also crucial, is that you should recognize and reward good performance. Although the Sheffield Shield competition isn’t as competitive as it once was with our Test players participating, you can still use it to see who is performing well. Simply put, I believe that having Bancroft there lets the Shield players know that they will be chosen if they play well. It would be absolutely devastating, so you might as well go play marbles,” he continued.
Bancroft averaged over 56 runs per game last season, good for first place in the Sheffield Shield scoring standings with 512 runs in six games.
In 2018, he, Smith, and Warner were all fined for their involvement in a ball-tampering incident.
