'There'll be some negativity from some people, and I get that' - Steve Smith after taking over as Australia vice-captain

Cricket Australia made an official announcement to name Pat Cummins as the new Test captain and Steve Smith as his deputy. The latter thus makes his comeback to the leadership duties after a considerable amount of time. Smith, however, believes that his return to the role may not be easily accepted as there may be negativities surrounding it.

Smith had to leave the captaincy after the ball-tampering scandal that took place in 2018 in South Africa. He was not only removed from the role but was also banned from any leadership roles for two years. With memories of the 2018 scandal, Smith feels that his appointment would be taken in a negative manner by some. He pointed that he understands people’s feelings but for him, he has grown a great deal over the past few years.

“I think there will be some negativity from some people about it. I understand that and I get that. But for me, I know that I’ve grown a great deal over the last three or four years. I’m a more rounded individual and in turn, I think it’s turned me into a better leader,” Smith said in a press conference.

The batter also opened up on working with Cummins. He said, “I’m completely guided by Patrick and whatever he needs on the field. If there are times when Patrick hands to me and wants me to take over and do some different things out on the field I’m there for that. My job is to support Patrick as much as I can.”

Cummins on why he wanted Steve Smith as the vice-captain

Pat Cummins replaced Tim Paine as the team’s Test skipper. This decision had come after Paine came into the limelight due to the 2017 sexting episode. Opening up on the new responsibility the pacer stated that the major reason to have Steve Smith as the vice-captain is to get valuable inputs from him.

“There’s going to be times where I’m out in the middle, it’s a hot day, I’m in the middle of a spell and I need to turn to people for advice, for tactics, for experience and that’s the main reason, one of the big reasons why I wanted Steve to be vice-captain. How does that look? I think it potentially could look differently to [how] you’ve seen partnerships work in the past. I think that will remain pretty fluid, “Cummins said.