I’m converted: The Cummins-Smith captaincy partnership was the right call

There’s nothing quite like an overreaction to a single Test match – and one that didn’t even last four days, at that – but I’ve seen enough: the decision to make Pat Cummins captain and Steve Smith his deputy was the right call by Cricket Australia.

Lest anyone feel like I’m getting carried away with the result, my belief that Australia has selected the right leadership duo has little to do with the thumping of England at The Gabba in the first Test.

Rather, it’s based on the dynamic that Cummins and Smith bring to the roles, some subtle things I observed from them during the game – which I’ll touch on later – and the confidence they exhibit already as a partnership.

That confidence is in stark contrast to how I felt when Tim Paine resigned from his post, for I sensed the Australian team lacked a replacement that was optimal captaincy material.

As I scanned for those likely to feel the void, my quick synopsis was that there were only four and a half options: Marnus Labuschagne, Pat Cummins, Steve Smith, Travis Head, or the very left-field choice of Usman Khawaja.

Yet all of them came with massive question marks.

Labuschagne is undeniably passionate, and a cricket connoisseur. Which is a polite way of saying a ‘cricket nut’. So you’d assume he would be a student of the game. But do we know what he’d be like tactically? Plus, there’s a massive chance he’d be too emotional or intense.

Cummins is a fast bowler, and it’s an unfair burden to also ask them to lead the team; that’s a massive workload. Additionally, there’s the age-old fear that fast-bowling skippers will not know when to bring themselves on or off, and will thus under/over bowl themselves.

Head captains his state, but was not even assured of a spot in the team, at that point. Yet it was still a stronger position than Khawaja – himself with Shield captaincy experience – who was below Head in the selection pecking order.

Travis Head celebrates his first Test ton (Photo by Matt Roberts – CA/Cricket Australia via Getty Images)

Choosing either of those batsmen to lead their country may have been one of the biggest, and shortest, selection gambles in Australian cricket history.

Smith, in many ways, was the safest choice. He’d done the job before, and as one of the preeminent batsmen in the world, his position in the team was as assured as selections get.

However, ‘Sandpapergate’ still hangs like a heavy cloud over Australian cricket, so there was sure to be a PR backlash in elevating him back to the top position. There would be many that believe it would be bad ‘optics’ to reinstate the former captain.

There’s also the fact that the ball tampering incident happened under his watch, and whatever maturity he has undergone, the shameful fiasco is a black mark not just against cricket in this country, but his leadership skills. Which is kind of an important point when choosing a captain.

Lastly, I also believe his actual on-field captaincy is looked back upon with slightly rose-tinted glasses. He was relatively conservative, lacked a poker face when things got tough, and was almost just a little too focused.

So, as I alluded to, the cupboard was a little bare when it came to perfect replacements for Paine.

In the end, Cricket Australia went for Cummins and Smith as the captain and vice-captain, respectively, and none of the worries about them that I listed above went away. Yet now those concerns are but a distant memory, mainly due to some of the aforementioned subtle things I noticed in Brisbane.

Cummins has already shown that he won’t be afraid to bring himself into the attack early, replacing Starc after just a handful of overs in England’s second dig. While we can talk about ‘over-bowling’, when you’re the best fast bowler in the world, the real concern with Cummins was ‘under-bowling’, yet he’s already shown that won’t be an issue.

In the first innings, the workload was evenly spread, with the captain and Hazlewood bowling 13 overs, and Starc 12. In the second innings, Starc and Cummins bowled 20 overs each, and Hazlewood, carrying a side strain, bowled 14.

The new skipper has also said that he will defer decisions to Smith at times when he is tired from bowling, easing concerns about his ‘mental’ burden as well.

Cummins was also extremely unemotional, balanced, and poised with possible DRS decisions when he was bowling. It’s a small thing, but he discussed them with teammates, and looked very comfortable being overruled. Of course, the real test of such calmness will come on a day 5 when the opposition is batting well and in-sight of winning, but so far, so good on this front.

Overall, from the very early returns, the biggest doubts about Cummins seem unwarranted.

Pat Cummins was impressive in his first Test match as captain (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

As for Smith, it may well be that he is perfectly suited to the vice-captaincy role. His experience and tactical nous can still be called upon and used, but he’s freed from the pressure that seemed to make him buckle last time, along with not needing to do all the extra duties expected of the captain.

It’s evident that Cummins and the team respect him immensely, so his words and advice will carry extra weight to those of the average deputy, yet he’s free to mainly focus on his batting.

It was also bleedingly obvious Smith will be a large part of the captaincy and on-field decisions.

When Cummins squared Ben Stokes up on day three, and had him caught at gully, Cameron Green immediately pointed to Smith at slip, while Pat Cummins laughed, suggesting that perhaps Smith had planned the mode of dismissal. It was later revealed that Smith had told Cummins he should come on to bowl to Stokes.

Clearly, this was no ‘nominal’ vice-captain in action.

All this is not to suggest that Cummins is the next truly great Test captain, and there won’t be challenges ahead, and mistakes made.

Yet it’s hard to argue that, given the options, the decision itself to elevate Cummins and name Smith his second-in-command wasn’t the right one.