Steve Smith as Captain

[Pounce]

Only bloke in Australia who can play this role?

Well if we don't give anyone else a shot four years out from the next world cup we'll never find out.

Bailey had a great start to his ODI career. Since then he has been mediocre.

And if he was batting so aggressively why is his strike rate in this time in the low 70s?

I never said other players can't play this role. Just we shouldn't be dropping Bailey to find out.

Bailey has had to dig us out of trouble on several occasions, so he would have to hurt his strike rate to do that.

Anyway, I am not going to continue to debate and clog up this thread. I will just wait see if the selectors select Bailey or not to see if they agree with me.

 

[The_Reaper]

Well Bailey's recent performances are by far the worst of any of the established batsman (in fact they're mediocre) so who else to drop to find out?

 

[GROTTO]

If Steve Smith is carrying a "niggle" injury why not rest him for the remainder of the two tests and have him primed for the ODI/T20 series against India and make Warner the stand in captain. Makes no sense playing him in a Test series where an Australian A team could beat them and a series where the cricketing crowd really does not care about, given we should win it now rather comfortably.

 

[The_Reaper]

If Steve Smith is carrying a "niggle" injury why not rest him for the remainder of the two tests and have him primed for the ODI/T20 series against India and make Warner the stand in captain. Makes no sense playing him in a Test series where an Australian A team could beat them and a series where the cricketing crowd really does not care about, given we should win it now rather comfortably.

Probably because Smith will tell them to GAGF

 

[Spitta Andretti]

You have Khawaja coming straight into the ODI side for Smith, which is someone Bailey could replace. Bailey played well against England in that ODI series, so you can't just omit him from the team. If Smith is rested that makes it even more likely Bailey stays in the team, so Australia has someone experienced captaining ODIs.

Isn't Khawaja thought of as a short form specialist with his great last few years in the domestic one day tournament? And he scored two international hundreds this summer. For me that's enough for him to be the incumbent Smith replacement over Bailey.

 

[The 747]

What is wrong with having Warner as captain?

He's an idiot.

 

[Carbine Chaos]

He's an idiot.

Seems to have matured a lot to me. Ponting did some silly things in his earlier days, he turned out alright.

 

[JackOutback]

He's an idiot.

Short, concise and to the point; I like it.

 

[The 747]

Seems to have matured a lot to me. Ponting did some silly things in his earlier days, he turned out alright.

To rephrase, Warner is kinda thick.

 

[Demosthenes]

To rephrase, Warner is kinda thick.

You hardly need to be a Rhodes Scholar to captain a cricket team.

As long as he has a modicum of tactical awareness he'll be fine.

 

[peternorth]

i like bailey. although not a fan early on as i felt he was chosen as a captain first, who could bat a bit. then he did well.

has anyone mentioned shaun marsh

 

[The_Reaper]

i like bailey. although not a fan early on as i felt he was chosen as a captain first, who could bat a bit. then he did well.

has anyone mentioned shaun marsh

In the ODI team. He'd be a genuine contender but Khawaja deserves a run

 

[Hellgood]

Easy to forget how far Smith has come over his journey through international cricket, good article reflecting on that: http://www.thecricketmonthly.com/story/940149/the-adaptable-mr-smith

In the ODI team. He'd be a genuine contender but Khawaja deserves a run

Yeah Marsh should be thereabouts given both form and his record in ODI's and in the domestic comp, but would say he'd still be just outside the team. I'm not a huge fan of Finch, but he's done a pretty good job over the past year or so and doesn't deserve to be dropped.

 

[PrideOf]

Anyone see The Project? I saw the news headline that said "Smith burns Waleed" and watched the clip. If that was a burn, I'm Desmond Tutu.

Smith's performance was Thunderbird-like, wooden and full of cliches. You can tell he's been media trained to within an inch of his life. As a public performer, he's got a long, long way to go.

 

[Slax]

When Smith was appointed captain I had a fear he would become Kim Hughes mark II. A younger player thrown into the captaincy and unable to properly deal with the demands of the media, but also has the problem of not having experienced senior players around him on field.

Tactically Smith looks sound enough, but I really think the strain is already starting to show.

 

[Demosthenes]

What kind of rot is that? Smith is nothing like Kim Hughes.

Just because the guy is a bit wooden in commercials or on fluff programs like the Panel doesn't mean he somehow lacks the fortitude to deal with media pressure.

 

[peternorth]

Smith is nothing like Kim Hughes.

both are right handed batsmen

 

[t_94]

Anyone see The Project? I saw the news headline that said "Smith burns Waleed" and watched the clip. If that was a burn, I'm Desmond Tutu.

Smith's performance was Thunderbird-like, wooden and full of cliches. You can tell he's been media trained to within an inch of his life. As a public performer, he's got a long, long way to go.

He's a CA mouthpiece IMO. Would have been in Academies since he's 16 and drilled over and over.

 

[Oaktree]

Anyone see The Project? I saw the news headline that said "Smith burns Waleed" and watched the clip. If that was a burn, I'm Desmond Tutu.

Smith's performance was Thunderbird-like, wooden and full of cliches. You can tell he's been media trained to within an inch of his life. As a public performer, he's got a long, long way to go.

BS article and headline - news.com.au and foxsports.com.au are click bait merchants!

Smith handled the interview fine.

The article misrepresents him.

 

[Super Hans]

Can we acknowledge that this bloke is a really ordinary captain?

He whinges, he has a shocking attitude in the field towards his team, he sets the most boring fields you'll see. Yet no one seems to mention it. I get that we have a lack of options, but this bloke as a skipper just sucks.

He's not a tactical gun like Clarke or (from the outside) someone who brings all the boys together and has a really high team moral like Punter. Gun bat, shit captain.

Is getting someone like Taylor or Ponting to mentor him a way to help?

 

[boncer34]

Dropping a catch and then looking over to see the skipper with his hands on his head looking at the sky must really rebuild the confidence.

 

[JackOutback]

Can we acknowledge that this bloke is a really ordinary captain?

He whinges, he has a shocking attitude in the field towards his team, he sets the most boring fields you'll see. Yet no one seems to mention it. I get that we have a lack of options, but this bloke as a skipper just sucks.

He's not a tactical gun like Clarke or (from the outside) someone who brings all the boys together and has a really high team moral like Punter. Gun bat, shit captain.

Is getting someone like Taylor or Ponting to mentor him a way to help?

Even his batting has fallen away in the past year or so.

His attitude is the worst though, I'm tired of hearing that he'll mature. He's 27 for crying out loud.

 

[Super Hans]

Dropping a catch and then looking over to see the skipper with his hands on his head looking at the sky must really rebuild the confidence.

Ian Chappell said it best. As a captain you never show anger when someone drops a catch, the bloke already feels shit enough and you can drop one yourself the very next ball. He's been saying that about Smith since his first test in charge.

 

[to1994]

He's nothing special but he's also pretty young. I think the main issue is the captaincy this time around seems to be shared by him, the coach and other people within CA. That's the trouble when you have someone oretty much live by a system for so long, there's zero identity.

 

[Del165198]

Has a pig nose