It’s time for Steve Smith to be given even greater responsibility, so the announcement that Brad Haddin would be given the captaincy should Michael Clarke succumb to injury in the upcoming Tests against Pakistan is not one I agree with.
While Haddin has plenty of experience, he is at the end of his career and the Australian captaincy shouldn’t be handed out willy-nilly, as it was to Shane Watson for one Test in India last year.
Any injury to Clarke should be seen as an opportunity to blood a long-term prospect, and Smith is the logical choice.
Smith is the only viable replacement once Clarke decides to retire, therefore we would get more value out of Smith being groomed as vice-captain now, getting him ready to take over permanently in a couple of years. Smith will then be able to draw on this experience in the future.
I can understand having George Bailey as one day captain at the moment but with Smith a permanent member of the one day team, it would make sense to give him the vice captaincy, preparing him to take over the captaincy after the World Cup.
The United Arab Emirates ODIs gave Smith the opportunity to successfully make the move up the batting order to number three. When Clarke, Watson and Mitch Marsh come back from injury, it is hard to see Bailey and even Aaron Finch being in Australia’s best ODI line-up.
So come on selectors, plan for the future by making Steve Smith vice-captain for the UAE Tests and the upcoming one-day series against South Africa.
Vibhor
Roar Rookie
Steve Smith has amazing composure and a good head on his shoulders, no doubt he is Aus's future captain in all formats
JGK
Roar Guru
Totally agree. He is currently the only option as Clarke's successor. He might be needed sooner than we think. May as well get him started on the journey by making him VC.
Bob Sims
Guest
There seems no doubt that Steve Smith will be Australia's next Test captain but this should be when Clarke bows out, not before. Should Clarke be temporarily unavailable due to illness or injury then I believe Haddin is the best short term choice. Smith is an exceptional talent but needs more time in the Test side before being saddled with the extra challenges of captaincy. More than that, I think the selectors should take the opportunity to bed him in at #3. He is a much better option there than Doolan or Hughes, and Watson's days are surely numbered. We all know Clarke's reluctance to bat at #3. When Rogers retires, Hughes, Finch and Silk can battle to be Warner's partner. This leaves space to consider Maxwell, Mitch Marsh, Haddin's ultimate successor, Faulkner and Henriques to battle out #5, 6 and 7. Now there's an exciting batting line-up!
Tom from Perth
Roar Rookie
Has Haddin captained in the Shield before?