AUS vs WI: Steve Smith focussed on scoring quick runs as opener

Listen to Story Steve Smith said that he will try and score runs at a faster rate as he gets set for his new role as Australian Test opener. as Usman Khawaja’s partner ahead of the opening Test against West Indies, starting Wednesday, January 17 at the Adelaide Oval. Steve Smith said that while batting in the middle order, he did not need to score runs at a brisk rate.

But against the new ball and with attacking fields in place, he intends to up his pace a wee bit. Smith will have his task cutout as he has never opened the batting in Tests for Australia. However, he is looking forward to the challenge. “It’s a pretty game, I suppose, with a brand new ball; bowling short stuff and wasting it.

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,” Smith was quoted as saying to the Australian Associated Press. "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," he added. Smith could not have expected a better opponent to start opening as he relishes batting against the West Indies. In 7 Tests against the Caribbean team, Smith has scored 752 runs at an average of 150.40 and a strike rate of 62.61 with 3 hundreds and 2 fifties to his name.

He got his top score 200 not out against them back in November 2022 at the Perth Stadium..