Cricket World Cup 2015: Steve Smith ready for one-day captaincy, says Steve Smith

STEVE Smith’s instant success as Test skipper presents Australia with the perfect opportunity to go one further and put him in charge at the World Cup.

Australia v South Africa final ODI at the SCG

STEVE Smith’s instant success with the bat as Test skipper has presented Cricket Australia with the perfect opportunity to go one further and put the “boy wonder” in charge of the World Cup side.

Not content with being promoted to the captaincy at age 25, Smith’s first decision as skipper was to bump himself up from No.5 to No.4 in the batting order. The dashing strokeplayer promptly made 133 in Australia’s first innings of 505 in the second Test against India at the Gabba.

With the World Cup looming in February on home soil and a busy 2015 ahead, the pressure’s going to be on CA to preserve Smith’s youthful enthusiasm and not work the lad into the ground.

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Australian captain Steve Smith on his way to a hundred at the Gabba.

Former Test opener Phil Jaques says Smith not only has the perfect game for all three forms of international cricket, but his captaincy responsibilities could quite easily be extended to Australia’s one-day and Twenty20 sides.

“He’s the sort of guy who would stay fresh mentally and be able to carry on and play all those three forms of the game and do well in the captaincy role,” Jaques said in an interview this week.

“I have no doubt he’s up to it if that was the way Cricket Australia went.

“He’s a very clever guy. He doesn’t let a game drift.

“George Bailey has led the one-day team with distinction over the last 12 months.

“There’s an abundance of leaders around. Brad Haddin is a very good leader too.

“But I don’t see any reason why Steve couldn’t do all three forms as well. He would handle it no problem.

“I don’t think it would affect his game. I think it would probably help his game if anything, knowing the type of guy he is.”

NSW assistant coach Jaques says Smith lives and breathes cricket.

“He really does eat the game up,” Jaques said.

“He loves it.”

Test and one-day skipper Michael Clarke is in doubt for the February/March World Cup in Australia and New Zealand because of hamstring surgery, which makes 32-year-old Bailey the current man in charge.

Michael Clarke faces a race against time to be fit for the World Cup next year.

Bailey led Australia to a series victory over South Africa in Australia last month after Clarke broke down in the first game of the five-match series.

Smith, who scored 254 at 84.66, was named player of the series

And Aaron Finch, 28, has captained Australia in its past four T20 International matches.

Even if Clarke returns to full fitness for Test and one-day cricket early next year, his T20 International days were over in 2010 when he stepped down from the team he had led to the World T20 final against England in Barbados.

Jaques however sees Smith facing no burnout issues mentally or physically with a full book of cricket commitments across all three forms of the international game.

“He’s a sponge. He talks a lot about cricket,” Jaques said.

“He loves the game. I’ve no doubt he’s going to do a good job.”

Smith, like Jaques before him, was chased by England to make a commitment to playing for the Mother Country due to his English parentage.

Jaques ended up playing 11 Tests for Australia from 2005 to 2008, which was around the time Smith was making a name for himself in County Second XI cricket for Kent and attracting attention from Surrey.

“Steve was very much about the education with England,” Jaques said.

“He wanted to be a professional cricketer but he wanted that to be in Australia, ultimately.

“We had a couple of discussions about it, when it was happening.

“I went through a very similar thing.

“Steve always said he wanted to play for Australia.

“He was very highly thought of in NSW. He made a lot of runs in club cricket and second eleven cricket.

“NSW gave him an opportunity (aged 18 in January 2008) and that’s probably the difference between losing him and not is that he got that opportunity earlier than a lot of players would have.

“They gave him an opportunity to play first-class cricket and be a professional player at a young age, because he was good enough.

“Steve was good enough to get that early start and it was a no-brainer for him. He wanted to be an Australian.”

Originally published as Cricket World Cup 2015: Steve Smith ready for one-day captaincy, says Steve Smith