Picture Credit: Twitter
In a sensational turn of events, Tim Paine resigned as the skipper of the Australian men's Test team ahead of the Ashes series. Post that, fast bowler Pat Cummins was given the honour of leading the Aussie Test side with former skipper Steve Smith marking a return to the leadership role.
Former Australia cricketer Mark Taylor feels that Smith's appointment as the vice-captain of the Test team will be an opportunity for him to redeem himself after the infamous "sandpaper gate" incident that shook Australian cricket in 2018. However, he added that he should not feel that he could win everyone back again.
He may well have wanted to become captain again: Taylor
"He’d be foolish to think he’ll ever win everyone back again. I don’t think he’d be too disappointed, he may well have wanted to become captain again, but I don’t see Steve Smith at home bashing the desk," Taylor as quoted by The Sydney Morning Herald.
"He’s got an opportunity now to be involved in the game as a leader, albeit not as openly. I think if he does a lot of good things, which I’m sure he will for Australian cricket, it will even help heal the wounds from Cape Town nearly four years ago," he added.
Taylor then talked about how the Kangaroo skipper runs the entire cricket team and Cummins taking over as the captain will be a change in guard moment for the Australian cricket.
"I think he’s handling it the right way. This is going to be very different. I think all of us ex-captains, in a way we’ve had a similar type plan – the captain runs the cricket team," Taylor said before concluding that a fast bowler leading the team would be a completely different experience.
Cheating is cheating, whether it's big cheating or little cheating: Ian Chappell
Earlier former Aussie star of yesteryears Ian Chappell was critical of Smith being named the Australia vice-captain after his involvement with the ball-tampering saga.
"Cheating is cheating, whether it's big cheating or little cheating, it's still cheating in my book. If I'd have cheated as an Australian captain -- I mean I made a lot of mistakes but I didn't cheat. And if I had cheated, and if I had done what Tim Paine did, I would have expected Cricket Australia to not ask me to resign, they would have taken the job away from me and made sure I didn't continue to play as a player," Chappell said on 2GB's Wide World of Sports radio.