Pat Cummins and Steve Smith - captain and vice-captain

[Pies4shaw]

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-11-27/australian-cricket-test-pat-cummins-happy-with-imperfections/100654852

[Donny]

I don't see too much of a problem for Cummins, with Smith as his deputy.

It's not as if PC will have to do all the thinking, having an ex Test captain as his V-C.

[K]

^ The problem is not for Cummins, but for cricket and society in general.

There was always a risk the monster would be thrust back into temp captaincy. It sends atrocious signals to kids everywhere.

And on the other side too. I have no objections to most of what Ben does on-field. But he almost killed a bloke in Bristol in a drunken rage. If Rooty misses, he'll be temp captaining too.

Sad for the world.

[Donny]

Never made a mistake, K ?

[K]

Donny, yeah, I've made mistakes...

But...

I'm pretty sure I've never almost bashed a man to death in a drunken rage outside a bar, all caught on video.

IIRC, I never cheated repeatedly in cricket matches, not just through ball tampering but also TV reviews, etc. (But true, I didn't have the opportunity to cheat by trying to get TV feedback from the dressing room before deciding whether to go for a TV review. There was no TV review at any level of cricket in my time!!)

I'm also pretty sure I never threw my teammates under the bus. I never threw under the bus the equivalent of Maxwell. Maxwell later had mental health issues (maybe not caused by being thrown under the bus by his captain, but obviously not helped by it). I never threw under the bus the equivalent of Cummins either. I didn't post 'bout it here a few months ago... but the cricket journos were astonished at what Smith said about Cummins re. captaincy etc. (This was when Cricket NSW threw their weight behind Cummins by making him NSW captain.)


Captaincy is a privilege, not a birthright. Warne is right about Smith and captaincy.

[Pies4shaw]

You also don't have a Test batting average of over 60. You just don't seem to like people with talent. It's quite sad, really.

[K]

^ You are clueless in correctly identifying talent.

And jealous too!!

I just know you were stewing in your anger earlier this Test when Oz's best batsman, Marny, scored a century.

I know it 'cos that's what happened last season against India. You were obviously jealous of "good average" Marny's success when Smith was failing. (Smith of course has failed against all nations except England for the past 4 years. He now cannot even FTB except against England.)

[Pies4shaw]

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/cricket/door-opens-for-warner-captaincy-after-board-meeting-20221014-p5bpvd.html

Interesting development.

[Donny]

Cummins named captain of the Oz ODI team.

[Pies4shaw]

Great to see Smith lead Australia to their largest-ever win by runs over the West Indies.

[Pies4shaw]

Pat Cummins is, sadly, staying in Australia because his Mum is in palliative care. So, Bradsmith will be Captain in the Third Test (if anyone still cares about the India series).

[stui magpie]

Sad for Pat, so young to have his Mum in Palliative care.

Hopefully the team shows some learnings and gives a better performance.

[Pies4shaw]

^ Well they'll be playing under the unofficial captain, so it's possible they will. The coaching seems to be the problem, though. Some idiot seems to have encouraged all of the batsmen (including the couple that have talent) to play cross-bat shots, repeatedly, on spinning wickets. It's lunacy.

[Pies4shaw]

^ And they did. Bradsmith is (of course) 3 wins from 3 Tests as Captain, stepping in for Cummins.

Australia has now won 5 Tests in India this Century. Smith has captained 2 of those victories. The previous Captain to win a Test with Australia in India was Adam Gilchrist - at Nagpur in 2004. In fact, Gilly captained 2 victories on that tour. Australia's only other Test victory agains India in India so far this Century was under Steve Waugh in 2001.

[Donny]

"Steve Smith has shot down any talk of becoming Test captain again on a full-time basis after leading Australia to a memorable win against India in Indore.

The star batter was filling in as skipper for the third Test after captain Pat Cummins returned home to Sydney last week to be with his seriously ill mother Maria.

Smith, who is Australia's vice-captain, has stepped in as skipper three times since Cummins became Test captain in November 2021.

Cummins intends to return for the fourth and final Test in Ahmedabad next week but it will depend on his delicate family situation.

Before the match, Smith declared captaincy brought out the best in him and he was looking forward to the challenge, expressing his sympathy for Cummins at the same time."

CA.