Both Michael Clarke and Brad Haddin are in serious doubt for the first Test against India. If they fail to regain fitness, who will captain the side?
There are a number of possibilities and much will depend on whether the selectors live in the present or have one eye on the future.
Shane Watson
Watson would be the logical choice. He has the most experience of all the candidates and has done it before, against India last year. The big question is how much of a distraction would captaincy be for someone who should be concentrating on cementing his place in the side and getting runs.
Steve Smith
Has long been touted as Michael Clarke’s successor and this could be a chance for him to put his highly rated leadership credentials to the Test. Has experience captaining the Sydney Sixers in the BBL and would welcome the challenge.
Ryan Harris
Has lots of experience and is the ultimate team man. Should he be cleared fit to play, he could definitely be in with a chance. During his comeback from injury, Harris has been trying coaching. Reports are that he has done very well and could benefit from his time learning these leadership skills.
However fast bowlers in the past have not generally been great captains, Stuart Broad struggled with his own form when he was T20 captain and the captaincy might be too much responsibility for Rhino.
Dave Warner
If you want aggressive and out of the box captaincy, then Warner is your man. Like Smith he has captaincy experience in the BBL and was vice captain of the ODI team in 2011-12. Seems to have overcome his off field troubles and is considered by many to be a good reader of the game.
George Bailey
Now this would be a Mike Brearley selection. Bailey is not even in the XI at the moment but did play five Tests against England last year and was serviceable but not brilliant.
He is obviously considered a fantastic leader considering his high standing in the one day team. The big issue is that he is not one of our best 11 players in the country – so such a selection is unlikely to happen.
So Roarers, who would you pick to lead the side in brisbane?
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