"One day I might be three....": Smith on ICC Champions Trophy batting spot ahead of England clash

Lahore [Pakistan], February 22 (ANI): Ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy campaign opener against England, Australian batter Steve Smith said that his batting order is not fixed for the tournament, remarking someday he could bat at number three, some at number four.
Australia will finally kickstart their CT2025 campaign against arch-rivals England in Lahore. While both sides have displayed woeful ODI form as of late, Australia has not won a match in the Champions Trophy since the 2009 edition when they defended their title.
Australia is heading into the team with an out-of-form batting line-up. While Travis Head is red-hot as an opener, he does not have reliable opening partners in Matthew Short and Jake Fraser McGurk having failed to make a mark in ODIs. Short (197 runs in 13 matches with one fifty), and Fraser McGurk (98 runs in seven matches with the best score of 41) have failed to deliver long knocks in ODIs.
Smith could change his batting position depending on the toss as Australia is gearing up for a full-on pace assault from England, having all three frontline pacers, Jofra Archer, Mark Wood and Brydon Carse, in their playing eleven.
Speaking about his batting spot, Smith told cricket.com.au, "We will wait and see. It is part of our discussions around flexibility and role-specific things throughout the tournament."
"One day I might be three, one day I might be four - we will see. It might change from batting first to second as well, depending on what we want to do what we are chasing and what we're trying to achieve."
"I think dew is going to be a huge part in the back end of the second innings, whether we want to load up the back end a little bit more."
"I know there are five (fielders) out at that stage, but I think with a wet ball that kind of negates that in a way, particularly with guys that have played a lot of T20 cricket who know what they can do with five out when the ball's skidding on nicely."
"There are different scenarios that we can go down, but we are going to be flexible and adaptable throughout," Smith elaborated.
The regular number three Mitchell Marsh is out due to a back injury, leaving the bulk of run-scoring in the hands of Smith, Marnus Labuschagne and Alex Carey who have had much better experience playing ODIs than compared to talents like Fraser McGurk, Short and Josh Inglis, who have not made massive runs in the format till yet.
Smith had previously expressed his desire to bat at number three and admitted that he was shocked on being dropped down to four when Travis Head returned from injury during the back-end of the 2023 Cricket World Cup.
At number three in 92 ODIs, Smith has scored 4,272 runs at an average of 52.09, with 11 centuries and 26 fifties in 92 innings and best score of 164. However, at number four, Smith has scored 1,005 runs in 34 innings at an average of 34.65, with a century and eight fifties. His best score here is 104.
England, who have failed to register an ODI series win since a poor title defence in the 2023 World Cup, were blown away by Travis during their white-ball home series opener against Aussies last year and lost the competitive series 3-2.
Speaking about playing against England, Travis said to cricket.com.au, "We got a look at them in England last year in that big white-ball block, they played pretty aggressively there and nothing has really changed."
"They are pretty much all-out fast bowling with Adil (Rashid, the leg-spinner) being their banker - he is high quality, and does not go underrated in this room - but there is so much excitement around Wood, Jofra, Carse and (Gus) Atkinson."
"We are going to have to make sure we start well against them. As an opening batter, how I can counteract that and how I play against that is a great challenge."
"Even though both teams haven't played the way we would have liked in white-ball cricket over the last couple of weeks, there's no better way to start than against them on Saturday," concluded Head.
Australia squad for CT2025: Steve Smith (c), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Spencer Johnson, Aaron Hardie, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Tanveer Sangha, Matt Short, Adam Zampa. Travelling reserve: Cooper Connolly. (ANI)