Pat Cummins might be the new captain of the Australian team, but there is no guarantee he will make all the on-field decisions.
Cummins has already highlighted the fact he will be using new vice-captain Steve Smith to set fields and manage bowlers while he is bowling himself, saying it would be a struggle to juggle both elements at the same time.
Now New South Wales teammate and former captain Moises Henriques, as well as Sydney Sixers teammate and Tasmanian opening batsman Jordan Silk have implored Cummins to allow Smith and other senior players to assist with bowling changes.
The Australian team have a wealth of experience in leadership positions under Cummins, with Smith a former captain, and David Warner his deputy, while Travis Head has been touted as future leadership potential, and Alex Carey (who is likely to take the gloves) is a former vice-captain of the Australian One Day international team.
Warner is banned from holding any official leadership title, however, the experience under Cummins should make his transition into captaincy easier, and both Henriques and Silk have implored him to use it when speaking to The Sydney Morning Herald.
It's clear Cummins will still need to spend time at fine leg during his bowling spells, with captaincy regularly done from the slips or mid on and mid off.
“He’s shown me he listens to people’s feedback when he’s been captain,” Henriques told the publication.
“There were times when someone may have walked up to him during a one-day game and said ‘we think you need to bowl right now’ and he’d go ‘OK’ and just bowl.
“Once another player says ‘you’ve got to bowl’, he’ll go ‘OK, well that decision was made for me’. There’s got to be 10 other guys on the field who are capable of leading. If they think Pat should be bowling, they should go up and tell [Smith] he should be bowling. Just like if they don’t think he should be bowling.”
Silk is a former junior teammate of Cummins at Penrith junior cricket level, and said Cummins would need to lean on Smith.
“Tactically he’s going to have to lean on Steve Smith,” Silk said.
“Their communication is going to have to be crucial. I know the type of guy he is, he will probably prefer someone else [get the chance to bowl] rather than himself to get the job done. That’s where it falls back on Steve Smith to be that tactical player in that team and relationship to demand that Pat keeps bowling.”
Cummins will captain Australia for the first time when the Ashes get underway in Brisbane on December 8.
