Greats urge Steve Smith to move up order for New Zealand Tests

Former Australian opener David Warner has urged ex-teammate Steve Smith to make a shock late-career change beginning with the summer's Tests against New Zealand.

Warner, alongside fellow former greats Mark Waugh and Kerry O'Keeffe, named their batting orders for the first Test against the Black Caps on Fox Cricket, six weeks out from the first ball at Optus Stadium.

There was a unanimous verdict on Marnus Labuschagne’s place in the team after his duck in the first innings against South Africa in Cape Town left his Test career hanging by a thread.

Warner believes a key to keeping the team stable is for Smith, who missed the Newlands Test with a neck injury, to return at No.3 in the order to help solve the growing middle-order logjam.

Smith has played more than half of his 227 Test innings to date at No.4, with 23 of his 37 centuries coming in his customary spot, though he averages 65.22 across 30 innings at No.3.

O'Keeffe named an in-form Queenslander as a left-field back-up option for the summer, while backing Josh Inglis to take over the No.3 role following his superb 102 in Cape Town.

Both Warner and O’Keeffe called for Cooper Connolly to retain his spot for the home summer after his resilient 29 off 83 balls in his second Test innings.

O’Keeffe’s biggest surprise was naming Victorian wicketkeeper-batter Sam Harper and Queensland batter Jack Clayton as his back-up batters in the squad over other contenders.