Smith overtakes both Warner and Finch as white-ball opener at the moment for me: Healy

Ian Healy has asked the national selectors to think about using Steve Smith as an opener in white-ball cricket.

For the Sydney Sixers in the Big Bash League (BBL), the 33-year-old Smith has scored 328 runs in four innings, including 36, 101, 125 not out, and 66.

Healy thinks it is challenging to discount Smith's qualifications as an opener, particularly in light of the fact that both David Warner and Aaron Finch are not at their best.

"Who opened with (David) Warner in the T20 World Cup? It was Finchy (Aaron Finch) who was captain. Both Warner and Finch aren't playing anywhere near as well as Smith, so he overtakes both of those in my eyes with the way he's batting now," Healy said.

"We don't play many international T20s so hopefully he's doing this (scoring big in BBL) in the lead-up to the next World Cup. Even in the 50-over game I'd be opening with him as well."

"I feel like it's a privilege watching him. When he gets out, seeing how hard the others are doing it, the discrepancy between him and the rest is unbelievable, it's very Bradman-like.

"He's just doing it so easily and how he's done it, he'd have a technical idea of what he's doing -- he's talking grip and everything like that, but I like his feet, his feet are still and his head is still.

"When he played at his best maybe three years ago or four years ago, he was walking all over the place but when the bowler delivered the ball he was dead still, and his feet were set.

"He's finding the middle of the bat incredibly often and it feels like a privilege watching him play like this, he wasn't doing it six months ago."