'Definitely in the thoughts...': Australian coach on Steve Smith's role in T20 WC

Steve Smith. Pic/AFP

Australia coach Andrew McDonald confirmed on Thursday that star batter Steve Smith is still in contention for the 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 him occupying the first three positions.

"I have batted (at) three for the last 18 months, so I will be there to start with. And obviously Heady (Travis Head) 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 as quoted by ICC.

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 T20 World Cup 2024.

Speaking after Australia's win over New Zealand in the first T20I in Wellington, McDonald said, "If he was not in our thinking then he would not be on the plane over here (to New Zealand).

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"We are playing him for a reason. He will 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," added the coach.

Since Australia's home T20 World Cup campaign in 2022, Smith has featured twice in the T20I setup, as an opener against India last year. McDonald hinted that Smith would continue to take the same role in the side.

"He is definitely in the thoughts. We will probably play him in a slightly different role to what we have seen in previous World Cups in T20 cricket. He has gone to the top of the order in recent times, so batting high up there is still competition for places. I suppose that is a good problem to have," said McDonald.

McDonald stressed the importance of the upcoming games, stating that they would help Australia figure out their best possible squad for the World Cup in West Indies and USA.

"There is 20 players that are in our thinking, we are not settled in terms of the final 15 at this stage and that is why these games are really important," said the coach.

"And we have 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 are not going to get to a final 11 as we sit here, but we will 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," he concluded.

The last two T20Is in the ongoing series will be played in Auckland on 23 and 25 February respectively.

(With agency inputs)