His first hit as Test opener underwhelmed but Steve Smith needs time to develop a bond with Usman Khawaja, says Australia’s coach

Shamar Joseph’s sheer unfamiliarity was the key factor in Steve Smith stumbling at the first hurdle in his new role, admits coach Andrew McDonald, who hopes Australia’s new opening pair can replicate a similar bond to the previous duo.

While he was unbeaten on 11 when the winning runs were hit early on day three in the first NRMA Insurance Test against West Indies, Smith had been left to rue being dismissed two days earlier when he edged Joseph’s first ball in international cricket to third slip.

But McDonald insisted there is no substitute for “actually being out in the middle facing” a previously unseen bowler, suggesting Marnus Labuschagne’s exit to Joseph during the same day-one evening session could also partially be attributed to novelty.

“There’s an element in particular with (facing) Joseph … sight unseen is always difficult for batters, when you haven’t seen someone and gotten used to their rhythm and the cues they present,” McDonald told reporters.

“Sometimes you do get drawn into shots that potentially you don’t play.

“We saw that with Marnus as well – I think it was maybe his second bouncer, he probably didn’t have the cues and it rushed him a little bit and brought about his demise.
“We feel as though now that there’s less unknowns going into the second Test match, we’ve had a good look at them, a lot of those little decision-making errors that may have crept in I think will iron themselves out.”

With Australia optimistic Khawaja will overcome the head knock he suffered while Smith was at the other end during their run chase of 26 on Friday, the duo will likely again be tasked with weathering the toughest part of the batting innings at the Gabba next week.

The Brisbane venue was at its juiciest last summer when Australia beat South Africa inside two days.

The prospect of a cyclone developing off the Queensland coast this week may have some say on proceedings, but the pitch is not expected to be as spicy this time around, although the use of a pink ball for the day-night contest should encourage groundstaff to leave sufficient grass on the surface to protect a ball not considered as durable as the red one.

While Khawaja and Smith are long-time Test teammates, it is difficult to strike up the same kinship Khawaja and Warner shared having played junior cricket together before being reunited as a Test opening pair in the twilights of their careers.

“I suppose it’s more just the connection of Usman and Smudge over time,” McDonald said when asked about how they are evaluating Smith as an opener.
“We’ve seen Davey and Usman’s connection and then the partnerships that they’ve been able to produce.

“That’ll be how we judge it – how that partnership functions. They’re world-class performers at the top of the order and we think Steve Smith is one of the best problem solvers in the game.

“We’ve said that leading into this and it makes sense for us that he’s at the top.”