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Posted: 2024-01-07 05:40:03

Andrew McDonald has indicated he doesn't want Steve Smith moved from number four, with Cameron Green's chances of replacing David Warner as Test opener growing by the day.

Australia's selectors will finally answer the biggest question of the summer this week, with a squad for the first Test against West Indies in Adelaide to be named as early as Tuesday.

As many as eight players have been mooted as options to open in place of Warner, including shifting any of Australia's incumbent batsmen to the top.

Smith last week became the first of the current group to say publicly he wanted to move to the top of the order, eyeing off the new challenge of opening the batting late in his career.

If Australia opt for a player outside of the current team, Marcus Harris is viewed as being marginally ahead of Cameron Bancroft and Matt Renshaw as specialist openers.

Then there is Green.

Selectors have kept him within the squad throughout the summer, and there is a real desire to have the 24-year-old West Australian all-rounder back in the team after being squeezed out during the Ashes.

Officials have largely kept their cards close to their chest in recent months, unwilling to make a final call until Warner's Test career formally ended.

But in recent days, McDonald and captain Pat Cummins have been singing from the same hymn sheet.

After Cummins urged caution against disrupting Australia's current batting order, McDonald has also suggested he is not overly keen on moving Smith to opener.

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