Mark Taylor Backs Steve Smith To Take Up Captaincy Again Once The Ban Ends

Steve Smith has made a smashing return to Test cricket after coming out from the one-year ban. After his recent exploits with the bat. Former Australia skipper Mark Taylor has backed Smith to take over the captaincy once again after his ban ends.

Cricket Australia slapped Smith with a one-year ban for his role in the ball-tampering scandal against South Africa in Cape Town in 2018. The apex body also slapped Steve Smith with a further year’s suspension from any leadership role which runs out at the end of March next year.

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In the absence of Smith, Tim Paine took up the job and did a fair job. He became the first captain since Steve Waugh to retain the Ashes urn in 2001. Usman Khawaja and Travis Head were potential leaders but they have failed to perform in the Ashes.

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Mark Taylor, who handed the ban to Steve Smith along with David Warner and Cameron Bancroft has backed the talented batsman to take over the leadership. He also said that Smith is the natural choice to take over.

“I believe Smith will captain Australia again,” he said in a column for the Sydney Morning Herald. “I was on the Cricket Australia board that determined the penalties for Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft over the events of Cape Town and have no doubt he will be a better leader next time around because of the very harsh lessons he learnt,” he added.

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Incumbent skipper Tim Paine received criticisms for his decisions during the third Test as Australia went down against England. But Mark Taylor feels Paine will continue to retain his chair in the upcoming home series against Pakistan and New Zealand. But Steve Smith would be waiting in the wings

“To me, it’s not a matter of whether he (Smith) becomes captain again on April 1. It doesn’t have to happen that quickly,” he said. “But I’d like to think when Paine is finished as Test captain — whether that’s in six months’ time or two or three years — he would be a candidate to lead the side again,” he concluded.

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