Cummins makes it clear: ‘separate captains’ makes

Australia will persist with a split-captaincy model in red and whiteball cricket, with new test skipper Pat Cummins not interested in the one-day role.

Cummins’ appointment as the country’s 47th men’s test captain after Tim Paine stepped down over a sexting scandal, ushered in a new era of leadership in Australian cricket.

But it also left questions over future leaders, particularly after Cummins revealed he did not see himself remaining captain for the rest of his career.

As things stand, Aaron Finch wants to stay on in Australia’s white-ball teams until at least the one-day World Cup in India in 2023.

He has also earned the right to fight on as leader after guiding the team to a maiden Twenty20 World Cup final win over New Zealand in the UAE this month.

But at age 35, there is no doubt Finch will retire from cricket before Cummins.

Australia have traditionally adopted a same-captain approach in test and one-day formats, provided the test captain also features in the one-day team.

But Cummins has no desire to eventually walk into the one-day role.

‘‘My gut feeling and preference at the moment is to have separate captains.

‘‘I think it’s too much to ask certainly of me. I’d love to just concentrate on test cricket. ‘‘Aaron’s doing a fantastic job.’’ His view comes amid a longheld debate about whether Australia should run separate white-ball or Twenty20 coaching staff, rather than one person overseeing all formats.

The paceman’s stance is also in line with the fact he does not want to be rested from test cricket, particularly now that he is captain.

While he has not missed a test since October 2018, Cummins has played in only 49 of Australia’s 89 white-ball matches in that time.

So where Australia go beyond Finch if Cummins doesn’t want to captain is questionable.

AT A GLANCE

Dec 8-12: 1st test, The Gabba, Brisbane

Dec 16-20: 2nd test, Adelaide Oval

Dec 26-30: 3rd test, Melbourne Cricket Ground

Jan 5-9: 4th test, Sydney Cricket Ground

Jan 14-18: 5th test, Perth Stadium

Cummins was Finch’s deputy for the most recent T20 World Cup, after regular vice-captain Alex Carey was left out of the squad.

Carey had previously been Finch’s right-hand man in the oneday format of the game, but is at risk of losing his spot to up-andcomer Josh Inglis.

Steve Smith, who was welcomed back into the leadership fold with his test vice-captaincy appointment on Friday, will be 34 by the next ODI World Cup.

Mitch Marsh could be another option, having been identified as a leader back in 2018 and still only 30.

Marsh has captained Western Australia since 2017-18 and was mentioned by both pundits Shane Warne and Ian Healy this week as possible long-term candidates for the red-ball role.

■ Tim Paine — Australia’s 46th Test captain — now finds his career at not so much a crossroads, but rather at an end.

It’s unlikely he will play test cricket again after taking indefinite leave, making way for the next generation of wicketkeeper/ batsmen Alex Carey or Josh Inglis a week after also relinquishing the captaincy.

How history will treat Paine long after the sexting scandal is anyone’s guess.

In so many ways he achieved much more than ever could have been imagined five years ago, while at the same time it has been one of the greatest falls from grace in Australian sport in recent memory.

At one stage in 2017, he seriously considered walking away due to injury and self doubts.

Within a year, he was Australia’s test captain — called in from the abyss to play in the 2017-18 Ashes and entrusted to take charge after sandpaper-gate.

It is Paine’s rapid rise, and the portrayal of him as Australian cricket’s saviour, that makes his fall even more dramatic. His 35 tests is the eighth-most of all Australian keepers while 157 dismissals has him ranked sixth.