Steve Smith all but guaranteed to open in India Tests

Australia’s selectors have all but guaranteed Steve Smith will stay at the top of the order for next summer’s Tests against India, leaving a race among the next rank to be called up whenever Smith or Usman Khawaja decide to retire.

Smith’s indifferent returns opening the batting across four Tests against West Indies and New Zealand on some lively pitches have been considered too small a sample size for the panel to move him down in the order, where space had been created for Cameron Green’s recall.

And in naming the Cricket Australia contract list for the next season, selection chair George Bailey characterised the battle between the likes of Matt Renshaw, Cameron Bancroft, Marcus Harris and Nathan McSweeney as one for the next vacant spot whenever that becomes available.

After David Warner’s exit from the Test team in January, 37-year-old Khawaja is expected to be the next top order player to call time on his career, although as the leading opener around the world over the past two years he will also be eager to add considerably to his current tally of 73 Tests. Smith, 34, has similarly kept his counsel as to when he will finish up.

“I think given the performances of the team over a period of time, the onus is on those outside to make a really compelling case of why someone should be displaced, and I do think the guys we’ve got there are in the team for a reason,” Bailey said.

“I don’t think there’s a big enough sample size to be running a line through Steven at the top of the order. We’ve seen some stuff there that we really like and I think the whole purpose of that was working out how we could work that top six to function as well as it can. I think there’s some improvement to come there and I think India will be a huge challenge across the summer.

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“That top seven they’re all very good players, they’ve all had great performances at different times across a long period of time, so we continue to back them and expect them to perform. It’s hard trying to project forward to something that’s nine or 10 months away … but I don’t think our thinking around it will change, it’ll be around trying to get the best six together and making sure they function well together.”

None of Renshaw, the reserve batter in New Zealand, Harris, Bancroft or McSweeney were offered contracts for the next 12 months, reflecting the impact of a Twenty20 World Cup on contract places that went to the likes of Matt Short and Nathan Ellis.