Paine takes Pup to task over Smith comments

TIM Paine has hit back at Michael Clarke’s rant surrounding the Australian selectors and Steve Smith, going in to defend George Bailey and his panel.

Smith recently earned selection for Australia’s squad to play South Africa in three T20Is in a nod towards the World Cup later this year.

Bailey told reporters that Smith had been earmarked to open the batting.

Smith, 34, only played one game of last year’s T20 World Cup and was in dreadful form in the shortest format prior.

It led former Australia captain Clarke to tee off at selectors, describing Smith’s recall as an “embarrassing” backflip and stating there was “no accountability” among the selection panel.

“I don’t know what they’re thinking with Smithy in the T20s,” Clarke said on Sky Sports.

“I don’t think he’s playing any other T20 cricket around the world. He’s not getting a gig in the IPL, didn’t get picked up there.”

But Paine, who wasn’t involved in white-ball cricket for Australia at the time, insisted Smith wasn’t worthy of a T20 spot.

“Steve Smith, as great a player as he is, no one will ever deny that, particularly in the lead up to that World Cup, was not playing well,” Paine told SEN Tassie.

“If you go back to the Dubai World Cup in 2021, people were saying why is he still in the team?

“Then he was replaced by Tim David, which most people had no issues with and I think if you go even deeper than that, and you look at why he wasn’t playing… in his 20 innings leading up to that in T20, he was averaging low 20s at a very low strike rate and when you want to be batting at number four or number five, that just doesn’t cut it.

“So that’s why he wasn’t playing at the position in the team was a middle-order spot where you want power and that doesn’t suit Steve Smith.”

But since then, as Paine notes, Smith has fired back to form. The Sydney Sixers sensation enjoyed a brilliant BBL|12 campaign, where he played only five games but averaged an astonishing 86.5 runs.

A spot at the top of the order is also vacant since Finch’s international retirement and Paine believes all this, combined with Smith’s swashbuckling ability with bat in hand, earns him a spot.

“Fast forward to now, circumstances have completely changed. It’s not embarrassing, the facts are the circumstances have changed. You’ve got a spot that’s opened up since Aaron Finch has retired,” Paine said.

“Since he’s retired, Steve Smith, who has struggled traditionally in T20, has gone back to the Big Bash and absolutely dominated as an opening batter and demanded selection in Aaron Finch’s spot, probably ahead of Travis Head, he would have been the other option to open the batting.

“So to say it was embarrassing, I think it’s actually really clear why he wasn’t playing when he wasn’t playing and now he’s got a chance.

“It doesn’t mean he’s going to play all the time but he’s got a chance in South Africa to take his T20 form opening the batting into international cricket and if he can do that, he’ll keep playing.

“If he doesn’t then Travis Head or someone like that will be knocking on the door to take his spot.”

Smith will play under Mitch Marsh, who has earned T20 captaincy honours for the first time, in the T20s before likely featuring in five ODIs later in September.

– SEB MOTTRAM/ SEN