‘It’s time...’: Sacrifice Smith must make; great’s shock next in line — Verdict on summer’s Aussie XI

Former Australian opener David Warner has urged ex-teammate Steve Smith to make a shock late-career change beginning with the summer’s Tests against New Zealand.

Warner, alongside fellow former greats Mark Waugh and Kerry O’Keeffe, named their batting orders for the first Test against the Black Caps on Fox Cricket, six weeks out from the first ball at Optus Stadium.

There was a unanimous verdict on Marnus Labuschagne’s place in the team after his duck in the first innings against South Africa in Cape Town left his Test career hanging by a thread.

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But the remainder of the team who notched 400 in an innings for just the third time since the start of 2025 was enthusiastically backed in to hold their places in the team.

And Warner believes a key to doing that is for Smith, who missed the Newlands Test with a neck injury, to return at No.3 in the order.

O’Keeffe, meanwhile, has named an in-form Queenslander as a left-field back-up option for the summer, who he believes has “big upside”.

DAVID WARNER’S TOP SEVEN: Matt Renshaw, Travis Head, Steve Smith, Cameron Green, Josh Inglis, Alex Carey (wk), Cooper Connolly

Smith has played more than half of his 227 Test innings to date at No.4, with 23 of his 37 centuries coming in his customary spot.

But across 30 innings, he has a spectacular career record at No.3, too, averaging a whopping 65.22 with eight centuries.

However, he has batted there just once since September 2017 - in the first innings against England in Perth during the 2025/26 Ashes, when Usman Khawaja’s back spasms forced everyone in the order to move one spot up.

However, Warner believes a return to the spot he has regularly featured in in white-ball cricket for Australia would help solve the team’s growing middle-order logjam, as well as to settle Cameron Green into the No.4 position he filled with aplomb in the first innings in Cape Town.

It’s a move that would see Labuschagne pushed out of the team entirely, with only a strong second-innings knock in Cape Town likely to save him after his first innings duck heightened the pressure on the fallen star.

“I just want the continuity for Cameron Green. Moving forward he’s probably going to likely take Smithy’s spot,” Warner said.

“Smithy’s a world-class player … there’s no reason why he can’t go up there and let the rest of them settle who’s going to be there (at four) long-term.

“Just have the conversation with Smudge and say ‘mate, do you mind coming up the order, we’ve got continuity here, we don’t want to bring another person in’.

“And then I feel sorry for someone like Inglis, who will have to go bat three, who’s not done it before and he’s not a three. I just don’t think you can have that yo-yo effect.

“You want continuity - you want to know where you’re sitting in that line-up the night before.

“I’m not changing that team, and that’s the hardest thing. I just wouldn’t bring anyone in.”

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O’Keeffe concurred, saying Smith doing so would be the right move for the good of the team - and settle any debate that he is the nation’s finest batter since Don Bradman.

“I just think for country, get up there and have a crack,” he said.

“You’ve been Australia’s best player for so long, it’s time to bat three, the best player’s position.”

“I get you want to retire at number four where you’ve batted most of your career, but just for the rest of the guys, let them be there with you, but you go up the order and allow them to play and stick with that,” Warner added.

“I can see a difference between six and opening, but not three and four, really,” was Waugh’s view.

KERRY O’KEEFFE’S TOP SEVEN: Matt Renshaw, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Steve Smith, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wk), Cooper Connolly - Sam Harper (Victoria) and Jack Clayton (Queensland) reserves

O’Keeffe nominated Inglis, whose superb 102 at No.5 in Cape Town was his second Test century and all but guarantees his spot in Perth, to replace Labuschagne at No.3.

The move would keep Smith in his preferred No.4 slot, while seeing Green shift down to No.5, where he struck a century against Bangladesh in Darwin back in August.

“Inglis auditioned for three (in Cape Town) - I know he batted five, but he has the compactness of a number three,” O’Keeffe said.

“Given there’s no heir apparent to Marnus, I’ve got Inglis there, Smith at four, Green at five, Carey at six ... and Connolly at seven.”

Like Warner, O’Keeffe called for Connolly, who scored 29 off 83 balls before being last man out in just his second Test innings on Day 3 in Cape Town, to retain his spot for the home summer.

“He’s a project player. I like that,” he said.

“I think Connolly has got such a high ceiling, and I think he’ll get better and better the more he’s exposed.”

O’Keeffe’s biggest shock was in naming two Sheffield Shield stars as his back-up batters in the squad, over Labuschagne, discarded Test opener Nic Maddinson and NSW hopefuls Sam Konstas, Ollie Davies and Kurtis Patterson.

Victorian wicketkeeper-batter Sam Harper, who was added to the squad in South Africa following Inglis’ injury but was sent home to play in this weekend’s Shield match, was favoured to be given another chance at a Test debut should injury strike.

But the bigger surprise was low-profile Queensland batter Jack Clayton, who has started the Shield season in solid form with scores of 82, 4, 66 and 37 not out.

The 27-year old, who made his first-class debut in 2022, is an old-school long-form batter, having played just two Big Bash League matches despite becoming a Shield regular for the Bulls.

With a career average of 38.03, O’Keeffe is confident Clayton is mature enough for the task should injury or form grant him a Test opportunity.

“My two reserves are Sam Harper and Jack Clayton - I think they’ve both got big upside,” he said.

“I’m a big Harper man, and Clayton gets tough runs. I’m very interested in their Sheffield Shield performances when the Shield resumes.

“Whoever gets big runs is right in the frame, and I’m going Harper and Clayton to return to their states and bat big.”

O’Keeffe also wants to see Konstas, who started the Shield season with a blazing century for the Blues at the WACA, score consistent runs on more challenging pitches before considering him for a recall.

Also counting against him is Matt Renshaw’s composed half-century in his return to the top of the order at Newlands all but locking in a Renshaw-Travis Head opening partnership for the home summer.

“Renshaw and Head have just locked down the opening spots, so I don’t think Sam can bat three,” O’Keeffe said.

“A lot of these shots (in his Shield century) were on the up on a good pitch.

“He’s still got the best hand-eye of any of the young players, but I want to see more.”

MARK WAUGH’S TOP SEVEN: Matt Renshaw, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Steve Smith, Cameron Green, Cooper Connolly, Alex Carey (wk)

Waugh, like O’Keeffe, was in favour of Inglis replacing Labuschagne - who he said was in the “last chance saloon” - at No.3 against the Black Caps.

But while he also believes Connolly should remain in the team, it comes with the caveat of pushing him above Carey into the top six.

“I’d like to see a guy who’s in the team to bat mainly ... at six, not seven,” Waugh said.

“I don’t think it would affect Carey where he bats, so he should bat seven.”

Waugh added that Connolly’s spot in the team could offer Australia the added flexibility, should conditions permit, of leaving Nathan Lyon out of home Tests while still maintaining a slow-bowling option with the Western Australian’s left-arm finger spin.

“He’s a batsman who bowls. Say in Perth, if you didn’t play Nathan Lyon, for example, then you’ve got Cooper Connolly’s left-arm orthodox,” Waugh said.

“It could be a bit pitch-dependent whether Connolly plays every game.

“He’s a young player … he’s a really good talent, good fieldsman, he hasn’t made a first-class hundred yet but he’s been there and thereabouts, he’s made an ODI hundred.

“You can gamble with him pretty comfortably at number six or seven.”

Waugh added: “Steve Smith doesn’t want to bat three, so he’s going to be four.”