Australia has yet to decide on its starting XI for this week’s New Year’s Test Ashes Test at the SCG, with captain Steve Smith failing to guarantee Todd Murphy’s selection.
Speaking to reporters in Sydney on Saturday morning, Smith declared that “all options are on the table” for the series finale, suggesting that no decisions would be made until the national selectors inspected the pitch.
The stand-in skipper was “still unsure” on whether a strike spinner would be required, while he flagged the possibility of Australia picking two all-rounders, opening the door for Beau Webster’s potential recall.
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“I haven’t had a chance to look at the wicket this morning, so all options are on the table currently,” Smith said.
“(The pitch) obviously hasn’t had a great deal of sunlight, so need to check it out and see what it looks like. It still looked pretty green yesterday.”
Pressed on selection, Smith added: “Could play a couple of all-rounders, could play a spinner, could play no spinner. We’ll figure it out once we see the surface and see which way we want to go about it.
“No-one’s locked in yet. There’s 13 or 14 guys on the table.”
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Elsewhere, he stopped short of guaranteeing Cameron Green’s selection, with the West Australian fighting to keep his spot in the Test side after an underwhelming six months with the bat. The 26-year-old has averaged 18.66 during this Ashes campaign with no fifties.
“He’s got himself in on a few occasions and probably not gone on with it,” Smith said of Green.
“That’s probably the disappointing part about it. Starting your innings is actually your hardest thing. He’s doing that pretty well and then just finding a way to get out. That happens with everyone, I’ve been through the same thing on numerous occasions too.
“What we know with Cam is he’s a quality player. Not too long ago he contributed some really valuable runs in the series in the West Indies on some tricky surfaces. I think he was our leading run scorer there batting at three.
“He’s batted in different spots, which also can’t be easy when you’re trying to sort of nail down one role.”
He added: “Green hasn’t got the runs he’s wanted so far, but I think he’s actually looked quite good at times too.
“We know he’s a bright player. Every time he goes back to shield cricket, he smashes it. Regardless of what happens right now, we think he’s got a really bright future.”
Earlier on Friday, England confirmed a 12-player squad for the Sydney Test, with either spinner Shoaib Bashir or seamer Matthew Potts set for a recall.
The fifth and final Ashes Test between Australia and England gets underway at the SCG on Sunday at 10.30am AEDT.
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