As it was widely anticipated for the last week or so, Cricket Australia (CA) officially announced today that the fast bowler Pat Cummins will take over as the new test captain of the Australian men’s team. The 28-year-old is going to be the 47th test captain of Australia and will replace Tim Paine, who has now taken a leave from the game altogether after his text message scandal which recently broke out.
Cricket Australia has also announced that the former test captain Steve Smith will be the deputy of Pat Cummins, another appointment which was on expected lines, given Smith’s leadership experience in the past.
The fast bowlers taking over as test captains is not really a very common sight in the international test match circuit, and that’s simply because of the physical workload of the fast bowlers, which is significantly higher as compared to the workload of batsmen.
Also, there can often be scenarios in test match cricket where a fast bowler might not be able to play back to back test matches in particular conditions, which is not the case that often arises with batsmen. However, the reason why Pat Cummins has been given the captaincy is that he has shown in the last few years that he can play test matches regularly in all conditions without any signs of weariness.
Pat Cummins has been a regular feature for Australia since his comeback from a long injury break
Since his comeback in test match cricket after a prolonged injury layoff a few years back, Pat Cummins has hardly missed a test match for Australia. He is kept in high regard in the Australian cricket circles for his ability to read the game, and although he has only taken over as the test captain at this stage, he is seen as someone who can captain Australia in all formats of the game in future.
Here is how the Australian fans reacted on Twitter when Pat Cummins was officially appointed as Australia’s 47th test captain today –
Here to witness the dawn of the pat cummins era pic.twitter.com/G4KczfmG4z
— nathan (@paceandbounce_) November 26, 2021
Pat Cummins officially announced as Test Captain with Steve Smith as the Vice Captain
New Era for Cricket Australia pic.twitter.com/0ZKHUYRMRJ— Two Slips and a Gully 🏏 (@strayafan49) November 26, 2021
Ladies and Gentlemen our 47th Test Captain, Pat Cummins. #howgood #patcummins #ashes
— Matt Baseley (@MattBaseley) November 26, 2021
Advertisement
Steve Smith’s first act as the new Test vice-captain is very formally referring to his captain Pat Cummins as “Patrick” #Ashes
— Bharat Sundaresan (@beastieboy07) November 26, 2021
Advertisement
PAT CUMMINS …
Player of the Match on Test debut as an 18yo ten years ago
AdvertisementMissed the next 64 Tests due to injury
Since returning played 33 of the past 35 Tests
164 wickets at 21.6
AdvertisementNumber one ranked bowler in the world
And now … AUS’s 47th Test captain
👏 🏏 #Ashes
Advertisement— Glenn Mitchell (@MitchellGlenn) November 26, 2021
Pat Cummins (c)
Steve Smith (vc)AdvertisementHappy for Patty. Quality bloke, ultra competitive, damn good player and he’ll have Smith’s tactical nous to help him out 🏏 #Ashes
— Adam Hayward (@Hayward_AdamK) November 26, 2021
Pat Cummins says he's "not overly comfortable" with the cleanskin and poster boy labels. He believes it's "unreasonable" to expect athletes will be perfect and not make mistakes.
"We need to be a bit more understanding," he said.
Steve Smith nods in approval.#Ashes
Advertisement— Nic Savage (@nic_savage1) November 26, 2021
Pat Cummins can’t wipe the small smile off his face as he answers questions. Love it.
Advertisement— Erin Marsicovetere (@ErinMarsico) November 26, 2021
