After David Warner announced his retirement, the fight for the opening spot alongside Usman Khawaja became intense. Current and former cricketers named their frontrunners for the job. Even Warner named his perfect replacement. However, when the squad for the two-Test series against West Indies was announced, Steve Smith was confirmed as opener. On the eve of the first Test at Adelaide Oval, Pat Cummins has a message for Australian openers who have delivered consistent performances in domestic cricket.
"We love what they both are doing in first-class cricket," Cummins told the reporters in Adelaide. "We love what they bring to any side they're playing in. They're doing all the right things. Unfortunately, they both just missed out on this one. So message was don't change.
"In international cricket there's always injuries or these guys aren't going to be around forever. Marcus (Harris) and Cam (Bancroft) are still relatively young, as is Renners (Matt Renshaw). So once that opening comes up at some point, any one of them we're confident can jump straight in and do a really good job."
On the other hand, Cummins was surprised to see veteran batter Smith excited to open the innings for the first time in Test cricket. He also backed all-rounder Cameron Green to fill Smith’s no.4 spot.
"Seeing someone who has basically achieved everything in the game get really excited for a new challenge, you've got to entertain that," Cummins said. "You can see his mind already whirring about he's maybe going to go about it differently, it's just re-energised him.
"I've never seen him as happy and as energetic as I've seen him around the nets the last couple of days. He can't wait to get out there. Also think the new ball, maybe (there will be) a few more scoring options. It's something that excites him. So that makes sense and getting Greeny a spot where we think he is set up to succeed."
Australia are currently at the top of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 points table with five wins from eight games. They have a chance to extend their lead over other teams against Kraigg Brathwaite-led side. West Indies have not won a Test match against Australia since 2003. On the other hand, West Indies's last Test win on Australian soil came in 1997 in Perth.
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