Former Australia captain Mark Taylor believes that the time is running out for Steve Smith to return to Australia's captaincy but said if Tim Paine gives Test captaincy up, then he would like to see the former skipper at the charge in the future.
However, Taylor has insisted that he wouldn’t rule Smith out of captaining Australia in the future but pointed out if Paine is still there at 37-38, then it will be too late for Smith to take up the mantle again.
Smith was removed as Australia captain in 2018 after he was banned for 12 months from the game and 2 years from a leadership role for his role in the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa.
Well, the right-hander has now returned to leadership capacity after completing his ban in domestic cricket but fans and cricketers now eagerly want to know whether he will be Australia captain again.
However, Australian selectors have already made it clear that there is currently no plan in captaincy change and even denied any chances of Smith’s return as captain, but Taylor feels the experienced cricketer would be considered for the job after Paine.
As per Sydney Morning Herald, Taylor stated: “I think the thing that will potentially go against him is how long Tim Paine will play for. If he’s still there at 37, 38, then it might be too late for Steve. Conversely, if in the next year or so Tim’s form [drops] or he gives it away, I’d like to think Steve would be considered.”
Former cricketer further said of Smith, “Yes, some mistakes were made a couple of years ago, I still feel to the day he was very wary of the mistakes he made and I don’t think it would happen again. I wouldn’t rule him out of captaining Australia in the future.”
On Paine’s performance as the Test captain, Taylor said: “I think he’s done a very good job, don’t get me wrong, but I also think he took over at such a hard time and the cricket side was at such a low there was a lot of room for improvement, put it that way.”
He signed off by saying, “There’s no doubt he was made captain because he was a senior cricketer in Australian cricket, with his head screwed on right, and therefore he was the right man for the job at the right time.”
