"People love rehashing an old scandal" - David Gower not in favor of Australia handing Steve Smith the captaincy role
Former England batsman David Gower has suggested that the Australian team management should not hand Steve Smith the Test captaincy again after Tim Paine's tenure ends. Gower feels it will unnecessarily rake up the ball-tampering controversy again.
"People love rehashing an old scandal. I think if Steve Smith is offered the captaincy again, or if they consider that, there will be problems because people will instantly latch on to what we’ve been talking about.
"It’s all a question of what the alternatives are because if you have someone who is ready and waiting to take on the role fresh, then I think that’s probably a better idea and you let somebody like Steve Smith keep his senior role," Gower said on Fox Cricket’s Road to the Ashes Podcast.
The former England skipper insisted it would be better if Smith didn't have to go back to captaincy responsibilities, and instead just concentrated on his batting for the remainder of his career.
"Obviously with the Ashes at stake he’ll (Steve Smith) be trying to make the same amount of runs he made last time, and it’s potentially a better thing for him to carry on with the game, not go back to that previous life which will inevitably mean things are raked over again," he said.
David Gower also highlighted how Cricket Australia went out of their way to hand out harsh sanctions to Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft when the ICC had suggested just a few weeks of punishment.
"Tim Paine has done a remarkably good job" - David Gower
While Tim Paine came under the scanner after losing the home series to India earlier in the year, David Gower opines that the wicketkeeper-batsman has done a good job as captain after the fallout from the ball-tampering scandal in 2018.
"From my perspective, Tim’s done a remarkably good job dealing with all the fallout from the ball-tampering scandal. So he’s had to try and do something to restore the reputation of Australian cricket and yet keep that hard, competitive spirit that we all know so well at the forefront. That’s quite a tough balancing act.
"He’s had his own performances to worry about, of course, but I think he’s done a pretty good job," the 64-year-old said.
Many experts see the upcoming Ashes, which begins in December, as Tim Paine's final captaincy stint. Apart from Steve Smith, fast bowler Pat Cummins has also emerged as a strong contender to take over the captaincy role for Australia's Test side.
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