He's So Central To How I See My Captaincy Style - Pat Cummins Explains Why He Wanted Steve Smith As The Vice-Captain

Australia‘s newly-appointed Test captain Pat Cummins said that he was adamant in having Steve Smith as his deputy. Both the stalwarts were presented on Friday as the new leadership group following Tim Paine’s exit.

Pat Cummins is the 47th Australian Test captain and the first specialist fast bowler to lead Australia since Ray Lindwall in 1956. Being a pacer on the field and leading the side will be a tough job, and the pace acknowledged himself, and hence demanding someone as experienced as Smith to be the vice-captain.

“There’s going to be times where I’m out in the middle, it’s a hot day, I’m in the middle of a (bowling) spell and I need to turn to people for advice for tactics, for experience, and that’s one of the big reasons I wanted Steve to be vice-captain,” Pat Cummins told cricket.com.au.

“There will be times on the field when I throw to Steve, and you’ll see Steve moving fielders around, maybe doing bowling changes and taking a bit more of an elevated vice-captaincy and that’s what I really want.

“That’s what I’ve asked for, and I’m really glad Steve is happy with that as well,” he added.

If I was to be injured or miss a game, Steve could take right over: Pat Cummins

Another thing of Pat Cummins’ mind was his own workload management, being an all-format pacer. He is also likely to be rested at some point, and reckons Smith could take over the transition without any trouble.

“I made it pretty clear if I was given the captaincy that this is how I saw the team running and tried to bring Steve along for that as well because he’s so central to how I see my captaincy style and how I see the team functioning,” he said.

“We both got a chance to think quite a lot about it over the last few days before we presented to a couple of board members and selectors, and that was after chatting between us two as well.

“I could not think of a better bloke, and a bloke that gives you more comfort if I was to be injured or miss a game. Steve could take right over and it would be seamless,” the 28-year-old asserted.

The first Ashes Test is slated for Brisbane from December 8. Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, and Perth are slotted to host the next four Tests.

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