As the turmoil surrounding the sandpaper gate continues to unwind once again in Australian cricket, former cricketer Brad Hogg has picked Australia’s next captain. The debate surrounding the next Aussie captain at its peak with a section of the cricket fraternity backing former cricketer Steve Smith to be Australia’s captain once again.
In the wake of the ball-tampering scandal, Smith was also handed an additional 12-month captaincy ban while David Warner was handed a lifetime captaincy ban. With Smith’s captaincy ban ending more than 12 months ago, the selectors haven’t handed him the captaincy duties again. There has been a lot of chatter in the Australian cricket fraternity of late whether Smith should once again be handed over the captaincy.
Tim Paine has done a decent job in Tests, Aaron Finch has looked in the scheme of things in the limited-overs format. However, Paine’s captaincy came under the scanner after an injury-marred Indian team, without their regular skipper in Virat Kohli, bounced back from humiliation in the first Test to clinch the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2-1.
Pat Cummins can lead Australia in Tests – Brad Hogg
A couple of names have been doing rounds but former cricketer Brad Hogg has lauded vice-captain Cummins as a fantastic role model both on and off the field and backed the pacer to take up the captaincy from Paine going forward.
“I think Australia’s most deserving candidate for captaincy in both off and on the field is Pat Cummins. I think he (Cummins) is a fantastic role model and a brilliant cricketer. I think he is just perfect for the role like he does for New South Wales.
The only issue I have is that the fast bowlers do have a lot more work compared to others. Pat may have to sacrifice to play other domestic leagues such as IPL to make sure that he is going to play the majority of the games in National colours. Smith might have a fantastic cricket brain but I don’t think the Australian public are still ready to see him as a leader,” Hogg said to timesnownews.com.
However, Brad Hogg doesn’t see Pat Cummins leading Australia in all three formats. The former spinner opined that he would prefer split captaincy for the Australian team.
“We’re still in the protocols of COVID-19 pandemic wherever we go to play so I would prefer two different skippers in limited-overs and Test cricket. I think Australia have enough squad depth to make two sides. I love to see Aaron Finch as a white-ball captain although he is under pressure with his batting form. He should definitely remain captain till T20 World Cup later this year. After that, Alex Carey might take the role as many see him as a promising leader,” Hogg added.
