Cricket news: Tim Paine reveals two young guns as potential future leaders of national team

A lack of leadership experience beyond Australia’s current duo at the top has been laid bare on the eve of the second Test against the Windies. Tim Paine believes he has the solution.

Tim Paine has urged Cricket Australia to give Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head more leadership experience to prepare for life after Pat Cummins.

A leadership void beyond Australia’s current duo was laid bare on the eve of the second Test against the West Indies, with Cummins ruled out with a quad injury, and no replacement vice-captain named to deputise for stand-in skipper Steve Smith.

Cummins has made it clear he won’t necessarily captain Australia for the rest of his Test career and Smith declared on Wednesday that he no longer holds ambitions to be a permanent skipper.

“I’m getting older, I’m 33, 34 next year and I’m not going to play forever,” said Smith, who confirmed the return of MCG magic man Scott Boland for Cummins would be Australia’s only change from the first Test win in Perth.

“I’d say I’m just relaxed at the moment and doing what I can to help. If I have to stand in for a game here and there, I’ll do that.”

Australian batsmen Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne could hold the answer to Australia’s current leadership void.

Labuschagne has emerged as one of the world’s best batsmen over the past three years, highlighted by his record-breaking 204 and 104 not out in Perth.

Yet there appears no clear leadership plan for him within Australian cricket, despite the fact at 28 years of age he has time on his side and is almost a guaranteed part of the team’s future beyond Cummins and Smith.

In the minds of some in Australian cricket, Labuschagne’s energetic persona simply does not cut it as captaincy material, but recent Test skipper Paine, disagrees, and believes selectors should be actively investing in him and Head either in ODI cricket or at state level.

“Cricket Australia have got to start investing in actually developing leaders so we don’t get to the place where we don’t have any. And that’s probably happened a few times,” Paine told News Corp.

“Marnus and Heady certainly have potential and with a bit of investment and a bit of development then I think they could both be excellent leaders and excellent captains.”

Ricky Ponting didn’t necessarily have the maturity of a future Test captain as a young player, and Paine himself came to the job late in his career, but flourished because of the experience he had gained through the years.

As it stands, Labuschagne has not even had a look in as a captain in his state of Queensland.

But Paine said Labuschagne in particular should not be pigeonholed because of how he might have been perceived as a young player, particularly when the time will come soon enough when he is the elder statesmen in the dressing room.

“You see it with players all the time, when you give them more responsibility they tend to grow don’t they,” Paine said.

“Marnus and Heady and even Cameron Green are already performing at a high level. I think a little bit of extra responsibility will actually, for players of that quality, they normally go to another level.

“That could be exciting to see but Cricket Australia are going to have to try and help invest and develop their leadership, because it’s certainly in there.

“Marnus is playing international cricket 12 months of the year now.

“Yes he’s extremely high energy but that’s really infectious energy and that’s also a role of a young guy coming into a team.

“Underneath that he thinks really deeply about the game. Whether that’s the way he’s batting or even when I was captain, he’s always coming up with how he can get someone out or what fields we could set or who will bowl well on a certain wicket. He’s a cricket tragic. He thinks deeply about the game.

Tim Paine believes Marnus Labuschagne (left) and Travis Head have the right stuff to one day lead Australia. Picture: AAP

“He always gives that vibe of high energy which is really important but I think as with everyone, as he becomes older and keeps maturing, there will be other young guys who come into the team and play that role and Marnus will evolve and grow. I think we’re already seeing that.”

Smith declined to nominate future leaders when asked on Wednesday, but is confident selectors are aware who they are as he reaffirmed he would be allowed to skipper the team ‘his own way’ and not have to follow the Cummins blueprint.

“We’re always looking to develop young leaders and have the people coming through for when Pat decides to call it a day,” he said.

“I have to do it my own way, I can’t try to be someone else.

“When something like this happens (Cummins ruled out), we’ve obviously got plans in place for certain batters but ultimately it’s whatever the game entails, and what needs to be done.

“I’m pretty chilled, I took over the game here last year and thought it worked pretty smoothly and same again.”

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Head backs himself to turn home form into sub-continent runs

Mike Hussey has urged Australia to not let Travis Head suffer the same fate as Usman Khawaja and back him in all conditions.

Khawaja was brutally chopped and changed as a Test player to the point where he has played almost half the amount of matches as David Warner and Steve Smith despite debuting around the same time more than a decade ago.

Selectors were ruthless on Khawaja’s poor overseas record, specifically in subcontinental conditions, but in his incredible career renaissance, the opener has notched three centuries in Asia and lifted his overall Test average to 46.90 to pose a strong argument Australia should have shown more patience with him as a developing talent.

Test great Hussey believes there is an opportunity for Australia to learn from history when it comes to shaping the future of the team’s newest left-hand run-scoring machine.

Head’s brilliant 99 in Perth continued his remarkable record on home soil where the South Australian averages 51.83 on Australian wickets.

Head on his way to 99 against the West Indies in Perth. (Photo by COLIN MURTY / AFP)

However, the contrast is Head has averaged just 21.69 away, and there is a particular focus on his struggles in Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the UAE as Australia looks ahead to next year’s colossal subcontinental tour of India in February.

Hussey has called on selectors to ride the wave with 28-year-old Head and reap the rewards that will come from showing the faith in one of world cricket’s most destructive scorers.

“The first time you go to a certain country and play in their conditions, you might battle a couple of tours, and then you slowly start to figure it out,” Hussey told News Corp.

“And that’s where the faith and belief has got to be held onto.

“If you think you’ve got a good player here, which Travis Head is – he’s a fantastic player – you’ve got to give him the opportunity to learn and grow and evolve as a player in certain conditions.

“Even if he does battle in India or in England, that’s fine. That’s part of his development and his journey as a player.

“Usman Khawaja is a good example with that. He was pigeonholed that he can’t play spin and should never be picked in the subcontinent, but now he’s probably one of the better players of spin and he’s played some magnificent innings in the subcontinent.

“It takes time to learn how to play in foreign conditions.”

Head’s stocks for touring India have already risen considerably after the Perth Test – not so much because of his contribution with the bat, but his crucial 2-25 on the last day, with his off-spin key in helping Australia break down the West Indies wall.

Head’s part-time off-spinners could prove crucial in Australia’s upcoming tour of India. (Photo by James Worsfold/Getty Images)

Although Head’s numbers don’t look pretty from his few tours overseas, the high-octane run-maker agrees with Hussey that his sample size hasn’t been big enough to properly judge.

“My white ball stuff has been really good on testing wickets in Sri Lanka and Pakistan. I played really well,” said Head.

“I just haven’t been able to translate that into red-ball cricket.

“There are moments that obviously stand out and it is a stat-based game.

“But two series, I am early in my career still in terms of international cricket in the subcontinent.

“A lot of players have missed out.

“I’m not going to reinvent the wheel (making changes to his game), I will work on things in January leading up to that if I’m selected.

“Maybe I can be a little bit more like my white ball. Be a bit more positive.

“It has been a tale of two stories for me. White ball really good, red ball not great. But overall I don’t change a lot between white and red so I guess that exaggerates the stats.”

Hussey said the key for Australia’s management of Head is understanding he is not going to come off every time – but that he is matchwinning when he does.

“That 150 he made at the MCG (in recent ODI against England) was phenomenal,” said Hussey.

“I’m sure there’s going to be ups and downs with the way he plays. He’s ultra-aggressive. He’s going to give chances so there’s going to be times when maybe he has a run of outs.

“That will be the challenge of selectors, if they believe in him, just to stick with him through those times.”

Originally published as Cricket news: Tim Paine reveals two young guns as potential future leaders of national team