{"id":353602,"date":"2023-12-13T06:18:21","date_gmt":"2023-12-13T07:18:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=353602"},"modified":"2023-12-13T10:02:27","modified_gmt":"2023-12-13T10:02:27","slug":"aussies-take-first-steps-to-future-proof-test-side","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=353602","title":{"rendered":"Aussies take first steps to 'future-proof' Test side"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a sign that the Australian Test team<\/a> is gearing up for life without Steve Smith<\/a>, Travis Head<\/a> has been \ufeffappointed co-vice-captain of the Test side alongside the 34-year-old batsman.<\/p>\n

Head steps back into the leadership role he held between 2018-2021 after a stellar 12 months, headlined by his recent heroics that guided Australia to a World Cup victory over hosts India\ufeff<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The left-handed batsman will help guide Australia through the Test summer, starting with the first Test against Pakistan in Perth, beginning on Thursday.\ufeff<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Cummins backs Khawaja as ICC bans silent protest<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Western Bulldogs suffer major blow with star's brutal injury<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Incoming Tigers boss' plea to Luai after 'traumatic day'<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Captain Pat Cummins<\/a> admitted the side is preparing for a future where he and Smith are not heading up the side.<\/p>\n

"Whilst nothing's imminent, Steve's (Smith) not going to play forever\ufeff. I dare say I'm not going to captain forever," Cummins said on Wednesday after the first Test squad was announced.<\/p>\n

\"Travis<\/p>\n

"So we feel like we've got some responsibility to future-proof the team\ufeff, start trying to give opportunities to other leaders.<\/p>\n

The captain expressed the desire to elevate Head back into the leadership group, after he was demoted when Cummins took over as captain in 2021.<\/p>\n

"Really excited to have Trav on board as a co-vice-captain," he said.<\/p>\n

"He's been playing for a long time, he's always been a leader in our group, so we thought it was a good time to formally recognise that\ufeff."<\/p>\n

\"Travis\u00a0joins\u00a0the\u00a0greats\u00a0with\u00a0all-time<\/p>\n

But when asked if Head is being groomed to become Australia's next captain, Cummins remained coy on the possibility.<\/p>\n

"It doesn't guarantee anything, but we're giving him a good opportunity," Cummins said.<\/p>\n

"When you look through future candidates for the captain, of course he'd be right up there."<\/p>\n

Despite remaining tight-lipped on the future captain, Cummins likened his own journey to the top to the path Head is about to venture.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

"I know my last years before becoming captain, being in some of those conversations as a vice-cap\ufefftain helped fast-track my readiness," he said.<\/p>\n

"Down the track it might be Trav, it might be someone else\ufeff, we want to make sure they're prepared as they can be."<\/p>\n

The fast bowler opened up on\ufeff what qualities he is most excited to see blossom when Head takes to the field in his new role.<\/p>\n

"The personality he brings to the team is something that we all love\ufeff," Cummins said.<\/p>\n

\"Head's<\/p>\n

"You see it in the way he plays his cricket. There's a certain amount of freedom to it\ufeff. He takes the game on, he enjoys it, he's always got a smile on his face.<\/p>\n

"He's great at bringing the team together\ufeff\ufeff."<\/p>\n

With the squad for the first Test against Pakistan announced on Wednesday, the only change sees Nathan Lyon replace Todd Murphy in the line up.\ufeff<\/p>\n

Lyon is just four wickets away from reaching 500 Test dismissals, meaning he'll join Glenn McGrath and the late great Shane Warne as other Australians to achieve the impressive feat. \ufeff<\/p>\n

The first Test of the summer kicks off on Thursday against Pakistan in Perth.\ufeff<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a sign that the Australian Test team is gearing up for life without Steve Smith, Travis Head has been \ufeffappointed co-vice-captain of the Test […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":342357,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353602"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=353602"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353602\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":353606,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353602\/revisions\/353606"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/342357"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=353602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=353602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=353602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}