Steve Smith brutally rejected as Test Captain replacement for Pat Cummins

Travis Head and Steve Smith are in contention to replace Pat Cummins as the Australian Captain on the tour of Sri Lanka in January-February 2025. Australia are set to play two Tests and a solitary ODI in the Island Nation. Regular skipper Cummins could miss the series as he has expressed his wish to be with his wife Becky, who is due to give birth to their second 

Smith is the frontrunner to step in for Cummins as he is the current Vice-Captain of the Australian Test team and has led his country in the past. However, a poll of 7,000 Yahoo Sport Australia readers revealed that Head is the favourite option amongst fans. At the time of publishing, Head had 52 per cent of the votes compared to 35 per cent for Smith. Teammates Alex Carey and Mitchell Marsh had three per cent each, while seven per cent of readers voted for 'someone else'.

Travis Head has been in spectacular form across formats in 2024. He is the leading run-getter in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT 2024-25), having amassed 409 runs from five innings at 81.80. The southpaw will turn 31 on December 29 and has a lot of time left in the international circuit. These could be a few of the reasons why the majority of the fans voted for him as Cummins' deputy.

Also Check: Australia announce squad for remainder of BGT 2024-25 Test series, Sam Konstas gets maiden national callup

Meanwhile, Smith has struggled in the Test arena this year, with an average of 28.08 from eight matches. He will turn 36 in June next year, and his future in the red-ball circuit is uncertain. Whenever Smith decides to hang up his boots, Head will seemingly be the next vice-captain. If the right-handed batter has plans to retire soon, it could be a good idea to give Head a shot at captaincy during the Sri Lanka tour, if Cummins opts for paternity leave.

Smith was stripped off Captaincy follow Sandpaper Gate scandal

Notably, Steve Smith was the Test captain until 2018 when he was infamously banned for 12 months and stripped off the captaincy after the ball-tampering aka Sandpaper Gate scandal in South Africa. He was banned from holding a leadership role for two years but has filled in for Cummins several times since the ban was lifted.