Cricket Australia names Pat Cummins as captain for the Ashes series, Steve Smith named as his deputy

Curtain finally falls on the saga of Australian Captaincy for the Ashes Tour, as Cricket Australis finally announces Pat Cummins. It has been over a week since Tim Paine, the former Australian captain, stepped down from his position after the ghosts of the past started haunting him again. A sexting scandal from 2017 came back to haunt Tim Paine and eventually forced him to resign from his post.

There has been another significant development in the story, as Steve Smith, who was found guilty in the sandpaper scandal, is selected as the deputy for Cummins. This decision was taken was cleared by Cricket Australia after the five-person panel set up by the board recommended the names after a lengthy interview with the two players. The panel consisted of chair Richard Freudenstein, chief executive Nick Hockley, director Mel Jones, and selectors George Bailey and Tony Dodemaide.

Talking about his new role Cummins said, “I am honoured to accept this role ahead of what will be a massive Ashes summer. I hope I can provide the same leadership as Tim has given the group in the past few years,” reports ESPNcrickinfo. Cummins added that the Australian team has a mixture of senior and young players and will emerge as a great unit in the Ashes.

Talking about his return to the leadership role, Steve Smith said that he is pleased to return to a leadership role in the team and will do his best alongside Cummins to deliver the best for his team.

This move by Cricket Australia will be keenly observed, considering that Cummins has no experience of captaining a team on the senior level. His previous experience as a captain of a senior side came in domestic cricket last year, where he led the New South Wales team in the trophy-winning campaign. Also, this is the first time since 1956 that a fast bowler will lead the Australian Cricket team.