It’s been nearly two years since Australia decided to hand Steve Smith the opening spot in Test cricket — a move that raised eyebrows then, and still says plenty about where we’re at today.

When that decision was made, Cameron Bancroft was piling on the runs and leading the Sheffield Shield charts.

He looked every bit like a player who had done the hard yards, and he wasn’t the only one at the time putting their hand up.

Yet for some reason, the selectors went in another direction.

Smith had never opened in first-class cricket. Never. But he was given the job ahead of those who had earned it against the West Indies in January 2024.

The justification was balance — getting Cameron Green back into the side, freeing up the middle order, and trusting that a great player could just adapt.

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