Should Steve Smith captain Australia in Tests again?

Steve Smith’s career has been a roller-coaster ride.  During the early years, he was known to give the ball a fair rip and could generate a lot of turn as a leg spinner. He was a leg-spinner who has eventually become not just Australia’s but arguably the world’s best Test batsman. How many times has the game seen a player who started as a leggie batting at No. 8 going onto become the modern-day ‘Don Bradman’?

Rise to the top

Smith initially featured as a player who could bat at 7 or 8 and bowl his leggies. He ground himself for the good and his transformation story will always be a part of the cricketing folklore. As a batsman, even as Smith slammed runs at will, there were still some critics, who questioned his ability to score in certain conditions. Come to the 2015 Ashes tour of England and Smith notched up a couple of tons, including a double century at Lord’s.

In the 2014-15 home summer, Smtih became Australia’s 45th Test captain. Being only 25 at the time, the burden of captaincy did not hamper his run-making. He was named Australia’s captain at a time when he was the No.1 Test batsman in the world and had long given up on the role through which he entered inside the Australian camp: leg-spin bowling.

Disaster strikes

A terrible incident then thwarted Smith’s dream run and put an indelible blot on his career as Australia was found guilty of ball-tampering in March 2018 during their tour of South Africa. Things started to take an ugly turn as those involved in the act included Smith, the captain, Warner, the vice-captain, and a youngster Cameron Bancroft. The involvement of a captain and vice-captain was certain to establish that the occurrence was preplanned.

Steve Smith and David Warner have stood down as captain and vice-captain for the remainder of this Test. Tim Paine to lead the side.

— Faizan Lakhani (@faizanlakhani) March 25, 2018

Smith was handed a one-Test ban by the ICC. But the punishment slapped on him by Cricket Australia was much harsher- a one-year ban from all forms of cricket and a two-year ban from leadership. The time eventually passed although Australia suffered heavily during it.

Back to captaincy?

Today the questions rise if Smith should be reinstated as the captain of the team. And a clear answer to that should be no. Not on the grounds of morality. He has faced and endured a suspension, lost a year worth of cricket during his prime, and he surely regrets his action more than anyone who calls him names or boos him. But to reinstate him as the captain is not ideal because of his traits as a leader.

Under him, Australia played 34 Tests and won 18 that included regaining the Ashes and wins in New Zealand. However, Smith lacked the man-management skills to bring his team together. He lacked the fierceness of a Steve Waugh or a Ricky Ponting.  And that was evident when he shook hands for a draw against India at the MCG that too when Australia led 2-0 and required 4 wickets in the last hour to go up 3-0. There is no denying that Smith is the greatest batsman Australia has produced after Don Bradman, but he is far from being a wonderful leader.