New vice-captain Josh Hazlewood says his lack of captaincy ambition will boost Australian cricket
JOSH Hazlewood says his appointment is a move by Australia to get rid of destabilising forces in the team
JOSH Hazlewood has revealed the inspiration behind his shock appointment as Test vice-captain is to short-circuit the leadership unrest he says destabilised Australian teams for the past decade.
The unprecedented decision to nominate co-deputies in Hazlewood and Mitchell Marsh has been rubber-stamped by Cricket Australia powerbrokers who believe the past method of appointing vice-captains with claims to the throne has proven deeply flawed.
Hazlewood, the fact bowling spearhead, declared on Thursday he has no ambition whatsoever to captain Australia, and feels that not aspiring to higher honours will help him fully dedicate himself to supporting Tim Paine.
Recent vice-captains Michael Clarke, Shane Watson and David Warner all went on to lead their country in some capacity, and Cricket Australia has decreed that the players’ ambition, inadvertent or otherwise, may have undermined the captains they were serving at the time.
Marsh does have captaincy potential and would be the man to fill Paine’s shoes in the event the wicketkeeper missed a game, however, it’s understood his selection is far from an anointing.
The highly-regarded West Australian will of course be a strong contender for the one-day captaincy and future Test captaincy, however, Marsh must first focus on cementing himself as the team’s all-rounder and fortify his injury-hampered body for more consistent cricket.
Hazlewood says dysfunctional relationships in the leadership ranks have damaged the modern era of Australian cricket.
“It’s probably no secret that the relationships between captain and vice-captain haven’t been great in the last 10 or 12 years,” said Hazlewood.
“I guess that promotes me to a degree.
“With no aspirations to be captain, you can have a really good relationship there and Mitch and I can do everything we can to make Painey’s job as easy as possible.
“I feel I can really contribute as a leader and a vice-captain without ever pushing that next level.”
After originally being short-listed by their peers, Hazlewood and Marsh excelled during an interview process conducted last week in Brisbane in front of a panel that included Test legends Mark Taylor, Greg Chappell and coach Justin Langer.
National Selector Trevor Hohns, board member and former Test quick Michael Kasprowicz and high performance boss Pat Howard were also part of the interview panel.
Hazlewood was left home from the Test tour about to get underway against Pakistan in the UAE as he prepares to return from injury for NSW next week in the one-day cup.
That means Marsh would lead Australia if something happened to Paine in the UAE, and it seems that would be the case even when both vice-captains are in the XI.
“That’s an interesting one. Once that does happen we’ll have to talk about it,” said Hazlewood.
“Mitch has obviously done a lot of captaincy in the past for Western Australia even through the junior levels.
“I wouldn’t mind filling in for a session or two here and there but I think it’s a tough one as a quick to be full-time captain.”
Hazlewood and Marsh have played together since they were 15 years of age representing their country and are close.
Both were in South Africa and believe they’ve learnt important lessons from the experience.
“The biggest thing we’ve spoken about as a team and I even said it in my presentation to the board, whether I have a title next to my name or not it’s actually irrelevant,” said Marsh.
“I want to be the best person and the best Australian cricketer and leader I can be for this group and that’s something we want every single Australian cricketer to be.
“Hopefully I can instil that on young guys coming through; what it’s to be an Australian cricketer and what we stand for. That’s my goal.”
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Originally published as New vice-captain Josh Hazlewood says his lack of captaincy ambition will boost Australian cricket