KEN PIESSE says Australia should have a new leader to Sri Lanka this month… and it’s not Steve Smith.
Travis Head should lead Australia to Sri Lanka this month ahead of Steve Smith.
Head, 31, has had on-and-off deputy leadership roles since 2019 and is the natural immediate successor to Pat Cummins.
Ordained earlier this summer as Australia’s No.1 batsman by Ex-Test coach Darren Lehmann, Head would be an ideal stand-in for Cummins, who is likely to miss the two-Test tour as his wife is having their second baby.
Head has natural flair as a leader and none of the baggage of Smith, who is still criticised for his flippancy in Australia’s greatest cricket scandal in Cape Town in 2018.
Smith, 36 in June, has led Australia four times in Tests since Cape Town, despite the scandal which saw him suspended for a year from all official cricket.
In allowing Australia’s on field behaviour to plummet to a new low level in South Africa, Smith should not have had any leadership role on his return to international ranks.
The Australians will release a 16-man squad at the conclusion of the Sydney Test, debuting allrounder Beau Webster a big winner ahead of Mitch Marsh.
Victorian Peter Handscomb is also in the frame for a recall given his expertise against slow bowling and liking for sub-continental wickets
In six Sheffield Shield games this summer he has 478 at an average of 47.80. His last Test match was against India at Ahmedabad in March, 2023.
Cummins is likely to confirm his unavailability for the tour after the fifth Test.
KEN PIESSE has covered cricket and football for more than 30 years in Melbourne. Despite that setback, Ken has written, published and edited 86 books on cricket and AFL football to become Australian sport’s most prolific author.
His latest cricket book is his own memoir, Living the Dream, 60 years in cricket and football with Wilkinson Publishing, out now.
www.cricketbooks.com.au
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