Justin Langer Confident of Leadership Roles in Australia Team to Help Tim Paine

Australia head coach Justin Langer is confident of the fact that there are enough players in the team who can play the role of an emerging leader. They will be ready to help skipper Tim Paine in what expects to be a tough summer for the Aussies in the absence of Steven Smith and David Warner. Cricket Australia decided against naming a vice-captain among the 15-member squad selected on Tuesday for next month’s Test series against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

It will be the first time that Paine will be leading Australia as a full term captain. He took over the job from Smith after the skipper and then vice-captain David Warner was handed one-year suspension. Meanwhile, Warner can never hold a leadership role again.

All-rounder Mitchell Marsh emerged as a likely candidate to take up the role of the vice-captain. He was elected as the skipper of Western Australia (WA), Perth Scorchers and then Australia A. take up the role as well. It includes Aaron Finch who has been drafted into the Test side along with Queensland skipper Usman Khawaja. However, a final call will be taken next week.

Justin Langer says there are some guys to help Paine out

“There are some guys who captain their states now. Mitch will certainly be in the hunt. He’s just coming back from his surgery; he’s captain of WA, so there’s no doubt he’ll be one of the frontrunners for vice-captaincy,” Langer said.

“Aaron Finch is also the captain of the T20 side, hasn’t played Test cricket yet. Josh Hazlewood is not on this tour but is highly regarded within the group. Travis Head is another one. Guys like Shaun Marsh and Usman Khawaja – a lot of good young leaders there. Whoever has got the title that’ll be one thing but as long as we’ve got lots of leaders, that’s what worries me,” he maintained.

Meanwhile, there might be one more option. Vice-captain might be selected for only the Pakistan tour and then have to reassess as the summer progresses.

“We’re going through a process at the moment which is a bit different to what we usually do in Australian cricket. But what I do know is there are five or six guys who are in the hunt for leadership positions in the white ball and red ball cricket. There’s a couple of guys – we’ll announce that in due course,” he concluded.

For Australia, under the leadership of Tim Paine, Peter Siddle is also making a comeback to play Pakistan Test series.