If the last Test against Pakistan was all about David Warner's pending retirement, the series-opener against West Indies centers around newly-promoted opener Steve Smith.
And Smith, true to his technical, analytical self, has dared the Caribbean attack to waste the new ball by bowling short-pitched deliveries to him.
Smith volunteered and was elevated from No. 4 to open with Usman Khawaja. They'll combine first when Australia bats in the first of two Tests starting Wednesday at Adelaide Oval.
Smith said the tactics opponents have used against him in the past will now risk blemishing the new ball by landing it halfway down the pitch.
He wants to score more freely in the role, taking advantage of attacking fields and lengths in the way Warner so often did in a 112-Test career that ended at the Sydney Cricket Ground last week with a 3-0 Australia sweep over Pakistan.
“It’s pretty game, I suppose, with a brand new ball; bowling short stuff and wasting it,” Smith told Australian Associated Press. “I think it helps the scoring rate for sure when you’re facing the new ball and there’s a bit more attacking going on.
"Over the last few years I’ve come in after quite a lot of runs... that’s probably kept me quieter and made me face a lot more balls to score runs. So perhaps that changes a bit with the new ball, you have a bit more attacking fields and more gaps out there to score runs."
Australia captain Pat Cummins says he likes what he sees so far from Smith.
“It’s a new challenge for him, which I don’t think you can underestimate,” Cummins said Tuesday. “I’ve never seen him just as happy and as energetic as I have seen him around the nets the last couple of days. Seeing someone who has basically achieved everything in the game get really excited for a new challenge, you have got to entertain that."
Cameron Green will make his first Test appearance for Australia since the Ashes series in England last June after being recalled to the starting XI. He's expected to bat in the No. 4 spot vacated by Smith, an ex-Australia captain and top-ranked Test batter who has been a middle-order batsman for most of his career.
“I’ve let all the guys know obviously how much I love playing at No. 4, and I’m obviously grateful for the opportunity,” Green said. "No. 4 is where I feel like I can take my time and settle in.”
The 24-year-old allrounder has batted at No. 6 in all of his previous 24 Tests, averaging 33.59, with his only century coming against India in Ahmedabad last March.
Pakistan's loss at the SCG kept the Test team winless in Australia since 1995, and West Indies are on a similar wrong side of a streak — they haven't won a Test match Down Under since February 1997.
Just over a year from the first Test against West Indies in November-December 2022, Australia has played 17 Tests, with very few personnel changes over that span.
The West Indies have brought only five players who appeared in the two Tests against Australia in 2022-23 and have added seven uncapped players to the touring squad. The Caribbean squad has played just six Test matches since the Australia series — against Zimbabwe, South Africa and India — and won just one.
On Tuesday, West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite pleaded for more Test matches, particularly in the Caribbean. Some senior players including former skipper Jason Holder and allrounder Kyle Mayers decided not to play in the Australian tour, choosing instead to play in cashed-up T20 leagues around the world.
Brathwaite said he doesn’t blame them. “I can’t make a decision for the guys, fully understood why they made the decision. it’s solely up to them,” he told AAP.
“In the West Indies, we don’t get many Test matches. If we get more... that would help a lot. And obviously incentive for playing Test cricket is always great because you know T20 cricket is out there, T10 cricket is out there, so it will always be tough. But I believe the more (Test) cricket we play, the better.”
The second and final Test in the series, a day-night match at the Gabba in Brisbane, begins Jan. 25.
