{"id":70721,"date":"2021-05-13T03:43:44","date_gmt":"2021-05-13T03:43:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=70721"},"modified":"2021-05-13T06:56:50","modified_gmt":"2021-05-13T06:56:50","slug":"paines-surprising-call-on-smith-captaincy-claims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=70721","title":{"rendered":"Paine's surprising call on Smith captaincy claims"},"content":{"rendered":"

Aussie skipper Tim Paine has endorsed Steve Smith's bid to be reinstated as Australia's Test captain.<\/a><\/p>\n

Speaking at a function for the Chappell Foundation at the SCG on Wednesday night, Paine, who was thrust into leadership following the infamous ball-tampering saga, said Smith deserved another shot at the top job.<\/p>\n

"I think so. Obviously, I don't make that decision but the time I played with Steve as captain he was excellent. Certainly, tactically he is as good as you get," Paine said.<\/p>\n

"He's probably a bit like me when I was at the start of my captaincy journey in Tasmania \u2014 he was thrown into a very big role at a very, very young age and he probably wasn't quite ready for it.<\/p>\n

\"Steve<\/p>\n

"But by the time I came in he was growing into that role and getting better and better. Then obviously South Africa events happened and he's not doing it anymore. But yeah I would support him getting that job again."<\/p>\n

Paine's assessment is the latest endorsement in a growing school of thought that Australia's best batsman should be handed the keys to the control room.<\/a><\/p>\n

Stripped of his duties following the incidents in Capetown in 2018, Smith has played the obedient senior figure under Paine's leadership since his recall to the national side.<\/p>\n

He's flat-batted assessments by some in the game that had been "white-anting" Paine's leadership, and has upheld Justin Langer's team-first approach flawlessly.<\/p>\n

\"Steve<\/p>\n

But following some bizarre strategic calls from Paine during Australia's calamitous Border-Gavaskar loss to India last summer that raised questions over his suitability for the top job, the time seems more appropriate than ever for Smith to come back into calculations.<\/a><\/p>\n

That's a bid also propped up by the fact that Paine is only locked in to lead Australia until the end of the upcoming Ashes series this summer.<\/p>\n

"At least another six Tests," said the 36-year-old when asked about his future at the helm.<\/p>\n

"If I feel like the time is right and we've beaten the Poms 5-0, what a way to go out. But it might be a tight series and we might be chasing 300 on the last day and I'm 100 not out and hit the winning runs \u2014 and then I might go again."<\/p>\n

\"Plans\u00a0to\u00a0bring\u00a0Australian\u00a0cricket\u00a0team\u00a0back\u00a0from\u00a0India\"<\/p>\n

The other likely candidate touted for the top job is Australian fast-bowling spearhead Pat Cummins who has emerged as a leader both on and off the field. <\/a><\/p>\n

Earlier this year, Smith made it clear that he still supports Paine's captaincy, but admitted he'd relish the opportunity to lead Australia once again.<\/p>\n

"I've certainly had a lot of time to think about it and I guess now I've got to a point where if the opportunity did come up again I would be keen," he told News Corp.<\/p>\n

"If it was what Cricket Australia wanted and it was what was best for the team at the time, it's certainly something I would be interested in now, that's for sure.<\/p>\n

\"Steve<\/p>\n

"I'm always going to have to live with Cape Town regardless of whether I lead again or not. It's always there.<\/p>\n

"I've been through all that now. Time keeps moving forward, and I've learnt so much the last few years about myself and grown as a human being.<\/p>\n

"I feel as though I'd be in a better place if the opportunity did come up. If it doesn't, that's fine as well and I'd support whoever is in charge the same way I've supported Tim and Finchy."<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em> clicking here!<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Aussie skipper Tim Paine has endorsed Steve Smith's bid to be reinstated as Australia's Test captain. Speaking at a function for the Chappell Foundation at […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"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\/70721"}],"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=70721"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70721\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70723,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70721\/revisions\/70723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=70721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=70721"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=70721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}