After establishing himself as a test match player, Steven Smith is now finding his feet in limited-over cricket too. In the recently played series against South Africa, he played some vital, match winning knocks for the Kangaroos.
Smith is currently not a guaranteed selection in the playing XI of the Australian ODI squad. It was just because the regular captain Michael Clarke was not available, the leg spinning all rounder got the opportunity to play and bat at no. 4 and he showed he was good enough for that.
The strongest point of Smith’s batting is his ability to innovate and toy with the field. His shots on the leg side were worth watching at the Melbourne Cricket ground during the 4th match of the series in which he got his maiden hundred in the One day Internationals.
Smith knows well that he cannot hit the ball as far as some of the other Aussie boys can. So, he never tries to play his game that way. He plays the touch game with a bit of cheekiness involved and he is getting more and more successful day by day.
Now, when Michael Clarke returns, it will be a real problem for the selection committee of Australia as far as picking the middle order batsmen is concerned.
If Clarke and Smith both play, then, either George Bailey or Glenn Maxwell would be out and that would be a little harsh on those guys.
Bailey has probably been the most successful Australian player in coloured clothing in the last couple of years while; Maxwell has often put team’s interests first and has batted selflessly. So, he deserves the benefit of the doubt too.
The players in the top order i.e. David Warner, Aaron Finch and Shane Watson are already well settled. So, there is no point tinkering with them.