Mark Waugh Picks Favourite to Become Next Australia Test Captain

Mark Waugh feels that Tim Paine will finish his tenure after the Ashes

The debate around the next Australia Test captain continues as Mark Waugh joined the bandwagon to pick his favourite to lead the team after Tim Paine. Australian cricket team are going through a tough time with the reawakening of the infamous ball-tampering scandal.

Recently, Bancroft shed some light on the incident and claims that players other than the three accused knew about the incident in Capetown. In a conversation with a journalist, Bancroft revealed that Australian bowlers’ knowledge of the incident is “self-explanatory”.

Smith was removed from the captaincy after the sandpaper gate incident in 2018. Tim Paine took the charge of the Test team while Aaron Finch was named skipper of the limited-overs squad.

In recent times, Paine’s captaincy has come under a lot of scanners after India beat Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy by breaching their fortress Gabba.

There have been talks of giving the Test captaincy back to Smith, while some are backing Pat Cummins to lead the team. Cummins has been the top-performer with the ball for Australia in the past couple of years and is currently the no.1 ranked Test bowler. He also made valuable contributions with the bat lower down the order on a consistent basis.

Waugh feels that Paine will finish his tenure after the Ashes and Cummins and Smith will be the only two choices for Cricket Australia to pick.

“I think when Tim Paine finishes, which could be after the Ashes, I think there are only two choices: Pat Cummins and Steve Smith,” Waugh told Fox Cricket’s Road to the Ashes Podcast.

While Waugh claims Cummins will be the favourites to take over the charge from Paine while Smith is expected to become his deputy.

“That’s our field of choices and I don’t think the selectors will steer too far clear of that.

“There are no other candidates from what I can see unless someone jumps out of the ground. But I’d say Pat Cummins is favourite to be captain, Steve Smith vice-captain,” he said.