Former Australia player Michael Clarke has backed the speedster, Pat Cummins, as the Test team captain despite his inexperience in captaincy. Cummins, however, is the first choice to lead the team in the upcoming Ashes series after Tim Paine decided to step down recently.
However, questions have been raised over captaincy ever since Paine resigned and many backed Cummins for the post as well. And, Clarke said that this is the perfect time for Cummins to take over the job as well. While speaking on Big Sports Breakfast, he said:
“But with so much seniority in the team, I think it is the right time for him. Because they can help him. Steve Smith, David Warner, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood. These guys have played a truckload of Test cricket. They can be there to help him, with or without the C or VC next to his name.”
I think he has got it – Michael Clarke on Pat Cummins
Even, Pat Cummins’ teammate Travis Head has also backed him. Meanwhile, Cricket Australia has also announced that they have started the process of selecting the next Test captain already, but they could not finalise anything yet as well.
“You have to allow him time to get into this job. Because he hasn’t had 10 years of captain first-grade or state cricket. But sometimes you can see certain things in people, and I think he’s got it. He reads the game. He’s a cricket captain. Looking at on the field tactics. The way he talks to his players. The way he sets the field when he bowls,” Michael Clarke concluded.
However, Cricket Australia has also shared that with the player rotation in the Ashes in place and fast bowlers are on focus for workload management, a few could miss a Test or two as well, including Pat Cummins. And, due to that, the appointment of the vice-captain would be equally crucial to select the captain of the team as well.
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