Cummins coy on captaincy talk
of view, with Tayla Vlaeminck coming in and Nic Carey in particular, hopefully this year we will be able to seize those moments a bit more.
“Our squad is as strong as its been and I’m really looking forward to seeing how we go.”
Hobart has bolstered its squad with a raft of international talent, which includes Australians Vlaeminck and Carey and imports Chloe Tryon and Fran Wilson.
After struggling with her own form while captain in WBBL03, Hall believes she has learned from her mistakes and IN 143 years of Test cricket, Australia has never been bold enough to appoint a specialist fast bowler a regular Test captain ... but nothing is off the table.
Not in the post-ball tampering era where Australia is still finding its soul and its new leaders.
Michael Clarke has been saying for two years Pat Cummins could be a fine Test captain, and over the next couple of seasons his name will at least be discussed because it is anchored in a small field of contenders which change by the series.
Current skipper Tim Paine has done an outstanding job settling the stormy waters of Australian cricket and deserves to hold the position is much better prepared to lead from the front.
“The biggest thing I learned was you can’t do everything yourself, I was trying to fix a lot of things around the group and not looking after my own performance. That will be a huge focus for me this year, making sure I am taking care of what I’m doing and how I’m contributing to the team and also relying on our support staff.
“But we have a leadership group for a reason, there are four of us that make a lot of the decisions, I feel like I am just wearing the hat this year.” until the term of his natural captaincy life expires. But he is 34, so Australia has a duty to start planning for life beyond him.
With the growing feeling that former skipper Steve Smith should just be left to bat, Cummins, a current Test vice-captain, is one of several options in a field lacking depth and experience.
Cummins was suitably self-effacing when quizzed on the matter on Fox Sports’
“I’m not too sure to be honest,’’ Cummins said when asked whether he could do the job, or even wanted it in the first place.
“I am not sure how I would go ... whether I would be any good. I feel that especially over here in Australia it always seems to be 45 degrees and I am bowling 25 overs. I don’t really have much capacity to think of anything else. I don’t really know but the good thing is Painey got a hundred during the week and he is doing a great job.’’
Australia has appointed 46 Test captains, mostly batsmen, some allrounders, a handful of keepers, but Ray Lindwall was the only specialist quick to hold the post, and that was on a one-off basis against India in the 1950s when regular captain Ian Johnson was injured.
The traditional feeling, apart from the fact that the fast men have occasionally been the maverick types, is they have enough on their plate being the engine room in the field rather than worrying about taking the steering wheel as well.