Brad Haddin: It was worth turning down captaincy for Steven Smith

"It was clear cut to me: Michael and I were coming to the end of our careers and Steve was the future. Why delay?" - Brad Haddin.

When Michael Clarke was ruled out after the first Test of 2014-15 Border-Gavaskar due to back injury, Steven Smith was placed at the helm. There were senior members such as Shane Watson, Brad Haddin, David Warner, Mitchell Johnson, among others, but the team management thought Smith was a better candidate to call the shots in Clarke’s absence.

Writing for players.com.au, Haddin revealed how did Australia come to the decision. Although he himself was the first choice, he found a better leader in Smith.

‘Wicketkeepers make good vice-captains’

“Turning down the Test captaincy wasn’t difficult.

“I was a reluctant skipper. I’m of the belief that wicketkeepers make good vice-captains. With the workload a ‘keeper shoulders each game – creating energy, being the centrepiece in the field, doing your bit with the bat – it’s really hard to carry everything else that comes with captaincy.”

‘Time for new blood’

“It was clear cut to me: Michael and I were coming to the end of our careers and Steve was the future. Why delay? He had me there as a senior player and vice-captain to lean on if he needed back-up. It was time for new blood. ‘Steve Smith is your next Australian captain, you all know that,’ I said. ‘Make him captain now. I’m happy with that. If you want to make that decision, don’t let me get in your way.’

“Steve wrote that he was a bit shocked by it all. I wasn’t in the slightest.”

‘Smith a good tactician’

“I was drawn to Steve from the start.

“He was a good tactician. He was brave. And he was always trying to move the game forward. We would be standing in the slips cordon in the very early days of his Shield career and he wouldn’t be afraid to speak his mind if he thought the game was starting to drift.

‘If we just get through here we can open the game right up.’

‘We’re a wicket away from turning this around.’

‘We can still win this.’

You can’t coach that mentality into someone. It’s something that comes naturally.”