YOU’RE (NOT) THE MAN!
STEVE Smith’s first step towards becoming a successful Test vice-captain will be to park his ambitions to be the top dog.
This is the view booming out from the history books and several key voices who have performed the role as former captain Smith prepares to take on the deputy position under Pat Cummins this Ashes summer.
“You cannot be aspiring to the leadership … your job is totally different,’’ said Ian Healy, long time understudy to Mark Taylor.
“You are not the captain. Let the captain do his job. You get the team right.’’
Healy’s comments follow those of captain Michael Clarke who said that “there can only be one captain’’.
Smith craved a return to the head role but has claimed he will be satisfied supporting new leader Cummins in a role featuring more responsibility than any Australian vice-captain has ever had.
Australia has had a patchy history of Test match vicecaptains.
Most who do the job well were wicketkeepers like Adam Gilchrist, Healy or Brad Haddin, who had no designs on the Test captaincy.
Haddin even knocked back the captaincy when it was offered to him, allowing Steve Smith to take over from Clarke.
Problems have arisen when vice-captains coveted the top job and were marking time in the deputy’s role.
While Smith will be heavily involved in the tactical side of proceedings as Cummins will hand him the steering wheel while he is bowling, Healy said a key factor in the role was looking after the mood of the team.
“The vice-captain needs to ensure the environment is good for all, not only those who are performing really well. You need to be making sure you are tipping energy back into those not going well,” he said.
“There needs to be spark and fun, maybe some social organisation. Things like ‘where are we going for dinner?’ He will have to demonstrate a lot of energy and thinking about others even more than the captain does.
“The captain thinks about the team and the strategy. The vice-captain thinks about players and works with the coaching staff to ensure they are as on top of their game as they can be. Not every one of the 12 players are enjoying themselves. There is always some stress with players.’’
Haddin feels the vice-captaincy is the perfect re-entrance to the leadership scene for Smith following a twoyear ban from holding such positions after the ball tampering Test in Cape Town in 2018.
“It’s a great opportunity, to see if Steve wants to get back into leadership,’’ Haddin said.
“He’s done a lot of work on himself over a long period of time and I think he’s becoming a better leader than he was when he first was captain, all the development he’s done. And it’s a great opportunity now to see if he wants to continue down being back in the spotlight as the leader.
“He might decide he doesn’t want to be back there, he might be outstanding at it and everything moves forward. I think it’s not a bad thing for him to test the waters again. He’s developed a lot over the last period of time.’’