Steve Smith or Pat Cummins? James Anderson names his pick for Australia Test captaincy

With a few days to go for the Ashes 2021-22, Cricket Australia (CA) is yet to announce the skipper of the Australian Cricket Team who will lead the squad in the series against England. The cricketing world went into shock after Tim Paine stepped down from the captaincy of Australia in Test following revelations of his private text messages involving a former Cricket Tasmania employee. After this, cricket experts started naming their choice who could be the next captain of Australia in Test, now England's speedster James Anderson is the recent one to join the trend. 

Speaking to the Morning Herald, James Anderson backed Pat Cummins who could lead Australia in the upcoming Ashes and Test. Anderson stated that bowlers should be captain as they think a lot about the game. "I think more bowlers should be captain. The only issue then is trying to get the time off - when you're off the field, you want to switch off, whereas if you're captain you've got to watch the game and be in it and you can't switch off maybe as much," said Anderson. 

"Bowlers do think a lot about the game. We are thinking cricketers now. I think he'd be good at it. You can see he leads brilliantly in the team. He's a leader of the bowling attack and you can see he's got that ability, so why not give him a chance? There are lots of arguments why it would suit to have a bowler as captain, but it's just not the done thing, is it? Captains like to look good at first slip and look like they're making all the field-position changes and doing all the good stuff. But I'm all for it," Anderson added. 

It is pertinent to mention here that Steve Smith and Pat Cummins are the top front runners to lead Australia in Test. Even Cricket Australia has confirmed that the cricket board is considering Steve Smith as one of the contenders to lead the team in Test. In March this year, Smith for the first time had openly talked about wanting to lead Australia again. The 31-year-old cricketer was removed as the skipper following his involvement in the Sandpaper Gate fiasco in the Cape Town Test against South Africa in March 2018. Smith's captaincy ban expired last year, however, he was not handed back the leadership post as Paine continued to lead the side in the longest format of the game.

Ashes 2021 Schedule 

Coming to the Ashes 2021 schedule, the first Ashes Test will be played at the 'Gabba' Brisbane from December 8-12. The second Test will take place at the Adelaide Oval from December 16-20. The historical Boxing Day and New Year’s Tests will be hosted by the Melbourne Cricket Ground from December 26-30. The Sydney Cricket Ground will host the fourth test between January 5-9. The Ashes 2021 will conclude with Perth Test between January 14 and 18.

(Image: AP/ICC)