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Should in-form Smith bolt into Aussie T20 World Cup squad?
SEN • January 20th, 2026 11:35 am
Should Australia make a late change to bring Steve Smith into their T20 World Cup squad?
While he was initially overlooked for the tournament’s provisional 15-man squad, the Sydney Sixers opener could still be included as an injury replacement, and all of Tim David, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins currently have health concerns.
Even though Smith hasn’t been a star international T20 player for some time, his BBL form has prompted some to call for his inclusion with scores of 19 not out, 100 and 54 from his three knocks in the domestic tournament.
While he’s showing that he’s a class above the rest of the competition, he’s up against it to open for the Aussies, given that those roles are currently held by captain Mitch Marsh and Travis Head.
In the wake of Smith’s form, SEN Sportsday’s Bryce McGain and Cam Luke discussed whether he has any chance of joining the squad for next month’s big tournament.
McGain: “He probably hasn't nailed those opportunities and to be fair, Australia has an incredible line-up, so you go, where do we fit him in?
“Can he open the batting for Australia? He’s doing it for the Sydney Sixers and he’s doing it unbelievably well.
“This World Cup is an international tournament, it's the Big Bash is not quite international quality, but he's got all these different gears, he just tweaks it up and then starts batting accordingly, he is a phenomenon.”
Luke: “The big thing is, we're pretty set for openers and that’s what Cricket Australia are leaning on right now.
“He didn't make the tour of Pakistan, but they have pretty much said the powerful hitting we have at the top with Marsh and Head at the top of the order makes it very hard to slide Smith in regardless of how he’s playing.
“The Big Bash is meant to lend itself to give you an opportunity to play internationally for Australia.
“The issue is, the two men at the top of the order where Steve Smith would play are two men who have been able to be very adaptable in the T20 format, both domestically, but most certainly internationally.”
McGain: “It's a shame you can't just have one more position and go, ‘Yep, we'll take him’.
“But that may change, we've got injury question marks over loads of our players.”
Smith was left out of Australia’s T20 squad for the upcoming tour of Pakistan, which will serve as a warm-up for the World Cup in India and Sri Lanka in February and March.
