Australia’s Test captain Tim Paine is ready to see his ex-captain Steve Smith as his successor. On Sunday, Smith’s ban from captaincy because of the Sandpapergate scandal ended and he is now eligible to lead the national team.
After the ball-tampering incident in South Africa back in 2018, Smith was banned by Cricket Australia for one year to feature in any form of cricket while he was embargoed two-year ban from captaincy. Now, after serving the ban, the unorthodox batsman is eligible to lead his team.
The wicketkeeper-batsman Tim Paine is also ready to give up his captaincy for the ex-captain. Paine very well knows that he might not have a long stay as he will be 36 by the time the World Test Championship final in London arrives in June 2021. He also said that not only Smith is the option other players like Marnus Labuschagne and Pat Cummins have also the capability to led the team.
“We’ve got a number of guys to choose from. [There’s] Steve Smith who’s done it before, or players who are developing underneath like a Travis Head, Alex Carey, Marnus Labuschagne, Pat Cummins is another one. We’re starting to build some real depth so that when my time’s up we’ve got a number of options,” Paine said.
“I haven’t had that conversation with Smithy, I probably will at some stage no doubt but I think that he’s back captaining the [Indian Premier League’s] Rajasthan Royals and captaining in [English competition] The Hundred, it’s something that he loves doing. If Steve Smith decides that’s the way he wants to go then I’d fully support him in trying to again.
Further, Paine added that he is lucky to play under the cricket brain like Steve Smith. The batsman has led the team from 2015 to 2018.