How much change does Australia's batting line-up need before their next Test against India? - SEN

[@John-vn3mb]

I've never understood why great players like Smith whose record is 67 at 3, decide to go down to 4...I know his record is also great at 4, but he belongs at 3 and that's where he can look to control the innings. Same thing happened to Brian Lara - averaged 61 at 3 and then spent most of his time at 4 and averaged 51

[@davidwong6682]

If Smith bats @3, where should Marnus Labuschagne bat? Where should Cam Green bat? Who opens the batting with Khawaja? Head is on a run of out at the moment so there may be an opening @5.

[@John-vn3mb]

@@davidwong6682 not sure exactly but smith is the best player and when he is dominant, the Aussies will always be in a great position so based on that, he needs to bat at 3. Personally I’d have head, Khawaja, smith, Marnus, Green as my top 5

[@TwoFourFourFour]

What have you got Marnus on the thumbnail for? His 90 was crucial in our second test win.

[@dannyboy9573]

Yeah but he's batting at 3 and failed in the second innings I think the point is with those who've batted at 3 in the past 30 years scoring 100 runs within2 innings of a test match is the expectation not to be lorded. Sorry just a fact.

[@markzigoronikos6598]

I seem to recall Ian Chappell saying to always select the best 11 players. I think the current team is the best 11. I'd open with Carey and Khawaja and I would encourage Carey to play his natural free flowing game. I think giving him this responsibility would bring out his best. He is batting too low at 7. Then it's Labuschagne, Smith, Head, Green, Marsh, Starc, Cummins, Lyon and Hazelwood. Batting Marsh at 7 would further encourage him to play with freedom in his swashbuckling style with the tail to follow.They are a great team! That's my 2 cents worth.

[@chrisbuesnell3428]

Open with carey ?

[@MaxFromSydney1]

I don’t know why Cummins bats lower than Starc. In Cummins’ bat I trust.

[@jay4cee]

I think at some point Starc was below Cummins, then they changed the order cos Starc was seen as a better hitter. but chasing 4 innings Cummins has been solid.

[@26Crikey]

Starc's batting average is higher than Cummins'. Significantly higher. That's all you need to know.

[@zatgeye7320]

that 4th inning average stat floored me

[@samb8744]

Aus won the series 2-0 with 4 of our batters in pretty poor form. Calm down. Seriously, we were given a huge reprieve that their form didn’t cost us the series. Just look at it as two freebie wins and when we play India in 8 months, they’ll become good again. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Smith took 2 years off test cricket and came back better than ever. No reason he can’t do the same in December

[@Pinkies77]

Simply we leave things alone, all doinant teams carry 1 or 2 players out of form ...... looking for perfection will not work. Winning on slow green wickets in NZ with 0 prep was a great result. Losing test matches will always happen, winning series is really tough. Very happy with my Aussies ...... questions? yes ..... aging bowlers in a long tough series worries me a little

[@SteveGergs]

Bumrah will destroy Smith 😢

[@MichaelSmith-px1ev]

Why wasn’t the series 3 test matches and a test match in Auckland

[@jason78981]

nz havnt playd a test in auckland for years and wont in the near future

[@jay4cee]

They just finished SA and West Indies respectively. Then IPL is happening soon.

[@scottharding4743]

Pride comes before a fall. That was the highest point this Australian side will reach without change. Losses to India, Sri Lanka away and England loading.

[@SunnyYadav-ny5kf]

Sri lanka and England they will manage

[@joshforde698]

The next Ashes will be very interesting if England can come with an attack not relying on Anderson. It feels like Australia may lose a lot of these players quickly, who could we confidently predict in the Aussie test team in four years? Marnus, Cummins, Green, probably no one else. The opening batsman is a conundrum which is hard to give a solid answer to right now, feels like Smith is not the answer though, batsmen don't go up the order suddenly in their mid 30s.

[@bradwaghorn8955]

The opener position is not a conundrum and has a solid answer. Bancroft opens and Smith retires.

[@davidwong6682]

​@@bradwaghorn8955Who do you think Bancroft open the batting with when Khawaja and Smith retires?

[@thornwivans]

Australia will play the next test with the same 11 against India unless someone's injured. I agree Inglis may have replaced Carey if he didn't make a decent score in the last test against NZ. Inglis might have been able to open instead of Smith if he was selected. Now there won't be a change and Smith will want to prove himself at the top of the order.

[@lAlAlatheoriginal]

i never understood the carey-inglis drama, the reason you have a wicketkeeper in a test side is because they earned their spot by their keeping. anything batting skills is a bonus, and the only thing that carey was struggling with was his batting, so i don’t think they should of dropped him because of his batting.

[@ram.a8923]

Australia needs to try and Promote Cameron Green as an Opener in test cricket He's got enough skill to Negate the early swing also very tall lad more reach to the ball got enormous power game in him to thrash the ball through covers and straight down the ground if it's pitched up... Give him all the freedom he needs back him up to not worry about the technique or playing to the situation and condition, let him attack the opposition bowlers out of the game from ball one, just like Virendra sehwag did for India, Look at Crawley and Duckett they are not half talented and gifted as Cameron Green but just by looking to score runs quickly did make them a better version of themselves so Australia must try Cameron Green in Opening position at least against some weaker opponents 🙏🫡💪 Also... Steve Smith As an Opening Batsmen may work in Australian conditions he may score some runs here and there but in the long term and for his own benefit of form he needs to bat as no.4 batsmen in test cricket where he scored truck loads of runs to back it up... (If it ain't broke, don't fix it)

[@chrisbuesnell3428]

No he hasnt

[@antirnator8194]

Australia needs more bowling allrounders to improve their batting.

[@piripi40]

‘Buttock-clenching statistic’ 😂. Kiwis are a good fielding side except against Aussies, suddenly the dropsies come in when big brother is standing over you.

[@clarkclements7204]

Agree with Whately but time on this one. Head needs to open.

[@ThankYouGoogle4]

Need Smith to start coming in at 3 again. Why is he the one to always keep changing positions for team balance? Its not doing any good for team or him

[@MaxFromSydney1]

Smith was on the decline before volunteering to open. Australia can cover one player like Smith being out of form for a while, but the wheels really fall off if Marnus, Travis and Marsh go cheaply too. Thank God Marnus made a score during the NZ tour; we need him back.

[@ThankYouGoogle4]

@@MaxFromSydney1 I see your point… agree with it too… but see I said ‘always keep changing’… it’s not just about opening slot. He has played just 4 matches opening. But if you look at number of tests he has played at 3,4,5,6? Why does he keep shuffling!? A player of that caliber should be utilised at his fullest potential no? He was having a blast at 4, then they needed him at 3 so he went in and made amount of runs at 3, then he sacrificed that for Marnus (who is great BTW), and he has played another 20 odd at 5 which happens every once in a while god knows why! The dip in his form meant he still averages 50+ in his last 17 tests… His lost form is still better than 90% who play the game.. And now he decided to experiment opening to get back… victim of his own success! It’s like because he is talented let’s use him as optimisation channel! Wth.. he is 34. Use his last bit of career what’s left in him to the fullest! Right now Aussies are grinding out victories like what Border did…

[@ashwinhariharan310]

Just one correction: Smith will not play 8 months -> There is a Sri Lanka series before the one against India

[@deano2110]

That's incorrect, the Sri Lanka series is in Jan/Feb of 2025 after the home series against India

[@loufolino7336]

You could put marsh to open

[@davidwong6682]

That was discussed at the start of the summer but Marsh doesn't want to open the batting.

[@davidwong6682]

Or could try to get Head to open the batting. That may spark him back into form.

[@jay4cee]

As much as they like to call this as one of the all time best Aussie team, it definitively is not. The ponting team in 2000s was much more solid and balanced. U had Hayden and langer, ponting, Martyn, michael Clarke. Combination of attack and defense.

[@suchith9327]

Thease english and australian media, commentators are so obsessive of there teams that they lost the nuetral, unbiased, balance conversation. Take for eg this chat, after talking so much about aus vs nz series at the end the guy in front ask the person on other side any thoughts on eng vs india test series 4-1'loss for England. The guy rection was oh, i think the next ashes will be very interesting.between eng vs australia as australia players will be old blah blah 😜🙂. My god, he asked you about result of ind vs eng test series dude. They are just on steriods all the time 😜

[@kaalishanmugam5796]

it's an Australian show meant for predominantly if not exclusively Australian audience..They are not here to cater to your expectations as an Indian fan. To expect that and calling them biased etc etc, just belies your lack of understanding and misplaced sense of entitlement!

[@UmpireStrikesBack]

Cry more

[@debasismohanty1952]

Indian commentators are most biased not australian commentators our commentators' never appreciate when opponents performed well against IND 😂😂😂 that's why plz research then comment 😂😂

[@debasismohanty1952]

​@@kaalishanmugam5796 he wants australian commentators to talk about India England test series and over hypes Indians test series win against England 😂😂😂 he just wants to hear praising that's it nothing else typical emotional Indian fan😂😂😂

[@HelixRsix]

Ummmm wrong show lad not here to talk about the cricket world as a whole it’s about the current games for Australia get over your feelings bud

[@bradwaghorn8955]

I have lost complete faith in cricket Australia and the influence of the woke Cummins. 3 players caught cheating in SA. Two continued to play for Aus. One, Bancroft, the best opener and most inform batter in Australia gets continuously overlooked. It’s a complete travesty. He should immediately play and Smith dropped and retire.

[@davidwong6682]

Matthew Hayden used to score more than 10,000 runs in first class cricket but selectors still wouldn't pick him. But thankfully he persisted and eventually got pick to play for Australia. He hadn't looked back since. If Bancroft was to be picked again he has to keep smashing the gate down. Selectors would want to see the point of difference from Bancroft before picking him.

[@chrisbuesnell3428]

Have a cup of tea and lie down Dont worry about cricket. You dont have a clue

[@n.abhinavchandrasekar2248]

Reality check: do the aussies have a B team that they can pick from?

[@Bevan-z6b]

Drop Smith for McSweeney

[@debasismohanty1952]

No mcsweeny prefect replacement for Steve Smith in future but not now Steve Smith age 34 he can play another 2 to 3 years for Australia

[@Bevan-z6b]

@@debasismohanty1952 he is struggling at the moment. I don't think so

[@debasismohanty1952]

@@Bevan-z6b Steve Smith needs to bat at no3 hope selectors will give him no3 spot

[@Bevan-z6b]

@@debasismohanty1952 He won't be batting at 3/4 ever again. Green holds his spot

[@jay4cee]

@@debasismohanty1952where do u put Manus?

[@damobax8344]

Smith is done need to blood a younger player otherwise half the top order will all retire at once

[@jaisabai4155]

Too many overpaid prima donna batsmen in this Aussie side.

[@DavidEllery-pd9ow]

All this carry on for not selecting a specialised opening batsman, ego's have got in the way and now it is ongoing damage control, Head, March or Green are not opening batsman, again it is going to be another quick fix. Smith proves the importance of a specialised opener, he has no idea where his off stump is now and has the audacity to keep reviewing middle stump dismissals.

[@samb8744]

What? He reviewed an lbw that was skimming the bails by a millimetre in the first innings. Plus it’s the non striker who bares the most responsibility for a review. Smith proved that his selfless act to go to open allowed Green to come in and win us this series. If Bancroft came in, we would have lost both games possibly. Great job selectors. Nailed it!

[@bradwaghorn8955]

You people are all delusional. Bancroft, the best opener and most inform batter in the country opens. Smith retires. Simple.

[@davidwong6682]

If Khawaja is still opening the batting I would not put Bancroft to open with him. Selectors clearly didn't think that 2 opening batters with very similar strengths will work.

[@samb8744]

“Simple”. Imagine the ignorance to say that a solution where the best batter ever retires is “simple” lol. Smith opening allowed Green to win us the series. If we had a moron like you as coach, we’d lose every single game