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Pat Cummins is expected to be the Australian captain on hold for all three formats as outgoing skippers Tim Paine and Aaron Finch struggle to keep their jobs.
That’s the call of former Australian captain Michael Clarke, with a huge streak looming for the national team.
Paine has pledged to lead the test team for a three-game tour of South Africa in March, but has not signed up for the Ashes next summer. Clarke said if Paine wasn’t seen by the selectors as Captain of the Ashes, then he should have been ditched now.
Finch is under surveillance ahead of a five-game T20 tour of New Zealand starting next month, due to a dismal BBL campaign. Likewise, Clarke said Finch should have been sacked by now if he wasn’t considered Australia’s T20 World Cup captain for this year’s tournament.
Australian selectors Wednesday announced Paine and Finch as captains for the upcoming series and will now sweat on them providing good form. Paine in particular received strong approval from Cricket Australia national team boss Ben Oliver.
Clarke said Australia couldn’t afford to blood a new test captain amid immense pressure from an Ashes series.
“They have to make a decision based on timing, for both formats,” Clarke told Sky Sports Radio on Wednesday, before Paine and Finch confirmed for the upcoming series.
“Australia goes to South Africa for a series of tests, then they come back and we have the ashes next. For mine, if Tim Paine is to be the captain during the ashes, stay with him. If he doesn’t. is not, he has to go now because you have to give the new captain the opportunity in this format before an Ashes series.
“Too big a series to come in and make your debut as a captain. Too big. [If Paine goes to South Africa], it must be part of the Ashes series.
“I say the same in the Twenty20s. If Aaron Finch wants to be captain of the T20 World Cup, keep him now as captain. If not, he has to leave now for the new captain. has the opportunity to take the leadership under his belt before heading to India for a World Cup.
“Timing is very important right now for Australian cricket. They have to make a call: are we sticking with what we have or are we making this change?”
“If they decide to make the switch, I think Pat Cummins can lead all three formats.”
Clarke pointed out that being a captain in three formats was no longer straightforward, with tours to New Zealand and South Africa overlapping. He said he was otherwise certain of Cummins’ leadership qualities, regardless of the traditional captain bias against bowlers, after the paceman superstar was the series player against India.
“Pat Cummins just showed us he’s ready,” Clarke said.
“Whatever you throw at this Aussie team and Pat Cummins, he’s ready. He showed his character, the man of the show in a show that you just beat, at one point, by the Indian second string team.
“Pat Cummins, he’s the only player who has defended Australia, so I think we got a really good look at Pat Cummins’ type of character.
“If they’re going to follow the path [where] Tim Paine’s time is up, we’re welcoming a few new, younger players, and then I’m cool with that but Pat Cummins is the leader. Pat Cummins is that captain. “
Clarke said Paine’s position as tactical captain was deemed insufficient in this summer’s India Test series, contributing to a 2-1 loss. His gloves and temperament have also been criticized.
“Tactically that’s probably the main difference for me; that throughout this summer we’ve tactically missed a number of tips that have had a significant impact on Australia failing to win this series. testing, ”Clarke said.
Clarke said Finch looked like he was in “big trouble” after its nightmare BBL and its Australian harbor master’s office T20 was under “serious pressure”.
The former Australian skipper also said he believes Steve Smith could no longer captain Australia due to the hysteria surrounding any offense following the ball tampering scandal. He also asked if Smith would even want the job, especially after the recent fury at SCG; Where was he accused of cheating for scratching the batting guard area during an inning break as India hit.
“He scored the crease, something he’s done his entire career that no one has ever blinked … anyone who knows Smithy knows that’s what he’s doing and there was nothing , yet it was a front page report, “Clarke told me.
“So whatever Steve Smith touches, and David Warner for that matter and Cameron Bancroft, because of what happened in South Africa with Sandpapergate, it’s going to create absolute chaos, for Steve Smith personally and for the team.
“The players on the team were saying that Smithy was distraught with the media reaction to what had happened. Well, if he’s clueless about it, you take over the management of the captaincy of Australia, it happens every two days.
“This is another massive incident that I don’t think Smithy needs in his life, Australian cricket certainly doesn’t need it and unfortunately because of what happened a few years ago he seems like whatever it does, it’s going to be written in bold, it’ll be a headline.
“If that’s the case, I actually think whether Smithy is asked to lead Australia again or not, he might even decide not to. He might not want to.
“He might be thinking: ‘You know what, it’s better for me and the team to do as many races as possible and help Australian cricket succeed that way, and I can be a leader in my own right. without having the ‘c’ or the ‘vc’ next to my name ‘.
“If Pat Cummins is going to take over as captain, he’s going to need senior players like Smithy, like Davey Warner, like Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon; he’s going to need those guys for him too.
“I don’t think they can go back to Steve Smith. If they think it’s time for Painey to step down, then I think Pat Cummins has shown he’s ready.”
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