New Australian Test captain: Pat Cummins has been appointed as Australia's 47th Test captain and former skipper Steve Smith has made a comeback to the leadership role as the Vice-captain. The official announcement was made by Cricket Australia on November 26, 2021. Pat Cummins succeeds Tim Paine who stepped down from the role last week.
Cummins has become the first fast bowler to take up captaincy of the Australian men’s Test side full-time. The only fast bowler to lead the Australian test side before him was Ray Lindwall, who had taken up the role as a stand-in captain for one match in 1956. Besides them, medium-pace all-rounders Monty Noble and Jack Ryder had captained the side in early 1900s.
Batter and former captain Steve Smith has been named vice-captain of the team.
— Cricket Australia (@CricketAus) November 26, 2021
Pat Cummins has been appointed as the test captain of Australia just ahead of the Ashes series, which is scheduled to start on December 8, 2021 in Brisbane. It comes after full-time Australian Test skipper Tim Paine stepped down from the position after a controversy erupted over the exchange of appropriate texts with a co-worker in 2017.
Cummins said in a statement, “I am honored to accept this role ahead of what will be a massive Ashes summer. I hope I can provide the same leadership Tim (Paine) has given the group in the past few years.”
“With Steve and I as captains, a number of very senior players in this squad and some great young talent coming through we are a strong and tightly knit group. This is an unexpected privilege which I am very grateful for and am very much looking forward to," he added.
Pat Cummins is currently ranked at the top in ICC Test Bowling Rankings with 908 points, way ahead of India's Ravichandran Ashwin, who is ranked second with 831 points. On the other hand, Steve Smith is ranked third in the ICC Test Batting Rankings with 891 points, after top-ranked England batsman Joe Root and New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson, who is ranked second.
Steve Smith appointed as Vice-captain
Steve Smith has made comeback to a leadership role almost 3 years after he had to step down as captain of the Australian team following the ball-tampering row in South Africa in 2018. Smith had been banned from any leadership roles for two years post the incident.
Speaking on his appointment, Steve Smith said: “I am pleased to return to the leadership of the team and look forward to helping and assisting Pat in any way I can. Pat and I have played together for a long time, so we know our respective styles well. We are also great friends, as is the whole group. As a team, we want to play good, positive cricket and also really enjoy each other’s company. They are exciting times ahead as we focus on the Ashes and beyond.”
Tim Paine takes indefinite break from cricket
The former Australian Test skipper, Tim Paine has taken an indefinite mental health break from all forms of cricket for the foreseeable future. He will be missing the first Ashes Test.
Read more: Australian test skipper Tim Paine takes indefinite break from all cricket
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