Smith 'shocked' as Aussies weigh up batting reshuffle

Steve Smith has conceded he was "a bit shocked" when it was put to him he would need to shuffle back down the order to accommodate the likely return of dashing opener Travis Head in Australia's next World Cup match against New Zealand on Saturday.

After scoring 71 from 68 balls during the Dutch thrashing – his most productive innings of the tournament to date – Smith looks set to move to number four in Australia's batting order, with Head likely to open and Mitchell Marsh occupying the number three position.

"It's a different sort of mindset I think, when you come in at three to four," the 34-year-old said. "So yeah, I got told if Trav was playing that I was going to be batting four.

"I'll do whatever the team wants. I've got a pretty good record at three, so I was a bit shocked in a way, but I'll do what I need to for the team."

Smith has made the No.3 position his own in the Australia ODI setup since he switched to the role in 2014, and duly posted his maiden hundred in his third innings.

The right-hander averages 52.84 at first drop – the highest of any Australian (min 500 runs) – and has scored 11 of his 12 ODI hundreds from that position.

Yet the return of Head, who has established himself as an x-factor for the five-time world champs as an opener (average 50.61, SR 112.36), has necessitated a change.

Beginning with the clash with the Black Caps on Saturday, that change appears likely to involve Smith moving into the No.4 spot vacated by the probable omission of Marnus Labuschagne, with Marsh this week saying he feels "really comfortable at three … if and when 'Heady' comes back in, I think that's the best position for me to play for this team".

Marsh, too, has been devastating for Australia as an ODI opener (554 runs in 2023 at 50.36, SR 113.76), however he is yet to hit his straps at three from limited opportunities in the 50-over game, with his claim to the position staked through his deeds as a No.3 in Australia's T20 side during the past two years (932 runs at 42.54, SR 141.81).

The 'three openers' scenario is not dissimilar to Australia's last World Cup campaign, when an in-form Usman Khawaja forced a reshuffle that again saw Smith pushed down to four in six of his 10 innings during that 2019 tournament.

Between World Cups, Smith batted just 25 times in ODI cricket, averaging 56.54 and striking at 92.07. Every one of those innings was from No.3.

Despite his surprise at the potential reshuffle, he seemed optimistic that he – and others – were moving into form as the tournament progressed.

"You want to be trying to get everything together and be playing as consistently as possible towards the back-end (of the tournament)," he said. "From a batter's perspective, you can get (on) a run of scores in one-day cricket.

"I've done that before in 2015 (World Cup, with five straight 50-plus scores), I did it for a bit in 2019 (World Cup, with three 50+ scores in four innings), and once you get that groove and in that sort of zone of playing, the way you want to play – I think Davey (Warner) is in that sort of patch at the moment – you can get some scores on the bounce, and obviously when your top order is scoring good runs, you've set yourself up nicely."

Australia's 2023 ODI World Cup fixtures

October 8: Lost to India by six wickets

October 12: Lost to South Africa by 134 runs

October 16: Defeated Sri Lanka by five wickets

October 20: Defeated Pakistan by 62 runs

October 25: Defeated Netherlands by 309 runs

October 28: v New Zealand, Dharamsala, 4pm AEDT

November 4: v England, Ahmedabad (D/N), 7.30pm AEDT

November 7: v Afghanistan, Mumbai (D/N), 7.30pm AEDT

November 11: v Bangladesh, Pune, 4pm AEDT

Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa

2023 World Cup standings

Team	Matches played M	Wins W	Losses L	Ties T	No results N/R	Net Run Rate NRR	Deductions Ded.	Total points PTS
1 India Men IND	9	9	0	0	0	2.57	0	18
2 South Africa Men SA	9	7	2	0	0	1.261	0	14
3 Australia Men AUS	9	7	2	0	0	0.841	0	14
4 New Zealand Men NZ	9	5	4	0	0	0.743	0	10
5 Pakistan Men PAK	9	4	5	0	0	-0.199	0	8
6 Afghanistan Men AFG	9	4	5	0	0	-0.336	0	8
7 England Men ENG	9	3	6	0	0	-0.572	0	6
8 Bangladesh Men BAN	9	2	7	0	0	-1.087	0	4
9 Sri Lanka Men SL	9	2	7	0	0	-1.419	0	4
10 Netherlands Men NED	9	2	7	0	0	-1.825	0	4

Legend

M: Matches played

W: Wins

L: Losses

T: Ties

N/R: No results

NRR: Net Run Rate

Ded.: Deductions

PTS: Total points