The Ashes: Smith role crucial says Cummins
Crucial role for SmithNew Australian Test captain Pat Cummins says vice-captain Steve Smith will have a crucial role to play and could end up running the show for spells during a match.
The Aussies are priced at 1.005 to win the Ashes series against England and will now be led by Cummins after he was officially confirmed as Tim Paine's replacement.
Smith vice-captain
Cummins has revealed he is insisted on former Test skipper Smith being named as vice-captain as he believes that role will be more important than ever before.
A fast bowler has never been long-term captain of the Test side before and Cummins accepts there is a reason for that.
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"It might look a little bit different from the outside to potentially other captains in the past," Cummins said. "One of the big reasons why there's been talk around fast bowlers not being able to captain in the past, is just the workload issue
"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 why I wanted Steve to be vice-captain.
"There will be times on the field where I'll throw to Steve and you'll see Steve move fielders around, maybe doing bowling changes."
Great partnership
Smith is delighted to be back involved and is convinced they will make a great team as the Australian Test side looks to bounce back from yet another crisis.
"We've known each other a long time. We're close friends," Smith said. "We get on really well and I think we complement each other really well.
"I'm really excited and I think this could be a really great partnership together going forward.
"It's my job to help Pat and help grow this team into one hopefully that can be successful and one that Australia will be proud of."
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