Mark Taylor backs Steve Smith to captain Australia again after ban expires


Former Captain Mark Taylor on Thursday backed Steve Smith to captain Australia again after his incredible feats of Ashes, while increasing support for the 30-year-old to get a second chance.

Smith was expelled for 12 months for a brazen attempt of Ball-tampering with sandpaper under his captaincy at a Cape Town event and received a suspension for another year of any leadership position that ends in late March next year.

While wicketkeeper Tim Paine took over the job at Test matches and won praise for the way he helped the team retain the Ashes at Old Trafford last weekend, he will turn 35 in December.

Australia’s opening batsmen Usman Khawaja and Travis Head publicize as potential future leaders to lead Australian team, but neither has performed in England in Ashes 2019, while bowlers Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood rarely become captains.

Former Skipper Mark Taylor helped determine Smith's ball-tampering penalty, along with bans handed over to David Warner and Cameron Bancroft said it was the natural option to take over.

"I think Smith will be the captain of Australia again," he said in a column for the Sydney Morning Herald.

"I was on the Board of Cricket Australia that determined the penalties for Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft for Cape Town events and I do not doubt that he will be a better leader next time because of the hard lessons he learned."

Tim Paine was extensively criticized for his decision-making in the third Test at Headingley that Australia lost surprisingly but recovered admirably at Old Trafford with the help of Steve Smith. Taylor said he should keep the bracelet for the next summer series at home against Pakistan and New Zealand.

However, Smith would be waiting in the wings.

"For me, it's not a question of whether he (Smith) becomes captain again on April 1. It doesn't have to happen that fast," he said.

"But I'd like to think that when Paine finishes as captain of the Test, either in six months or two or three years, he would be a candidate to lead the team again."

Another former captain, Ian Chappell, has also backed Smith to take on the role again.

"I think the problem for Australia is that there's no one else I can see to a captain that side," he said recently, while Ricky Ponting stated that "it wouldn't have any problems at all."

"If the hierarchy of Cricket Australia had a problem with him as captain again, he would have given a ban for life, wouldn't they?" Ponting said last month.

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