The giant on the outer who’s a great option to eventually replace Cummins

Cricket Australia chairman of selectors George Bailey would do well to heed Confucius’ words that “a man who does not plan long ahead will find trouble on his door”.

We all have shelf lives, even the extremely charismatic, wildly successful current Australian captain. If past is prologue, 30-year-old Pat Cummins should have at least four more years before he heads into the sunset.

Pat Cummins remains a great threat, but he won’t last forever.Credit: Getty

The great Glenn McGrath hung up his boots at 36, while the legendary Dennis Lillee was 34 when he called it quits with Rodney Marsh and me in 1984. Let us hope Cummins can match their longevity, skill and fitness.

Speaking of shelf lives and longevity, Test cricket’s days are decidedly numbered. I note with the greatest dismay recent examples of the West Indies and South Africa touring with sub-par squads while their elite cricketers prioritise the Twenty20 rubbish.

T20, which was meant to augment Test cricket and attract more spectators to the game, will end up like Ta Prohm, the Angkor Wat temple where out-of-control trees have virtually destroyed the sacred site.

Cricket administrators, particularly the Board of Control for Cricket in India, are fairly and squarely to blame, for their avarice. Shamelessly chasing the TV dollar, but clueless and callously not doing enough to keep our greatest format alive while demanding bigger and extended periods for rubbish and more new rubbish. This prostitution of our game is complete but has to stop. The weed is strangling the formerly healthy plant.

Test cricket at venues like the SCG must remain the game’s priority.Credit: Getty Images

More cricket voices, particularly influential voices in India, England and Australia need to rant and rage NOW or forever hold their peace.

Having vented my spleen, let me turn my attention to the not-so-distant future of Australian cricket.

With only Marnus Labuschagne and Cameron Green under 30 years of age, David Warner’s exit is the first in a long line of retirements that are coming quicker than selectors would like.

Usman Khawaja is 37 years of age and Nathan Lyon 36, so they are already pushing the envelope of cricketing life expectancy. No one is rushing them out of the door, but selection panels always have to look beyond the horizon. If they don’t, Confucius’s words will haunt them.

Test batter Marnus Labuschagne.Credit: Getty Images

Apart from the makeup of the team, the chairman and his panel will have thought about who will be the next long-term captain? If Pat Cummins is indisposed in the short term, there are potential replacements in Steve Smith, Usman Khawaja, Travis Head and Mitch Marsh, but the long-term replacement is far less obvious.

Marnus Labuschagne is the only one in the XI for the Sydney Test who could be considered, but who are the other contenders? Within the current set-up, Cameron Green 24, and with time on his side, is the one who stands out.

Of the current state captains, only Will Sutherland 24, qualifies as someone the selectors can consider for the role once Pat Cummins is done. All of the others will either be too old or not considered for selection.

Although not a state captain, Nathan McSweeney 24, has recently captained Australia A in New Zealand and the Prime Minister’s XI. He has performed well for South Australia and is obviously on the selector’s radar.

In the modern era, Allan Border is the record-holder with 93 Tests as captain of Australia. Ponting did it 77 times while Steve Waugh was at the helm on 57 occasions and Mark Taylor for 50 matches. Border did the job for 10 years and Ponting for seven, but it seems that five years is a long time in the top job.

Cummins has only been in the role since the summer of 2021 but has already led in 24 Tests. If history is any guide, (there has never been a pace bowler in charge full-time, so we are breaking new ground), it is likely to be around 2026 or 2027 when the selection panel will have to find a new incumbent. That is if injury doesn’t force their hand sooner.

No selection panel will want to wait until a problem arises to make their decision. They already have a few names in mind, but will that person be ready?

Labuschagne and Green have not had any meaningful experience as a captain at lower levels. They are unlikely to get a chance to play domestically for any worthwhile period to gain that experience so other arrangements will have to be made unless we decide to deviate from the historical norm of choosing Australian captains from within the team ranks.

Cameron Green and Mitchell Marsh batting together during the Ashes.Credit: Getty

With this scenario to consider, I was hoping that the selectors would find a place for Green this summer. If he is to be considered as someone to replace Cummins in time, it would be helpful if he got as many chances to cement his place in the team before the day comes.

I am somewhat surprised therefore that Andrew McDonald, who has some inside information, has hinted that Green will be considered as Warner’s replacement at the top of the order. If that is the case, I would counsel against it.

Tony Greig, who was the same height as Green (198cm), has been one of the most successful tall batters at men’s Test level, scoring 3599 runs at a healthy average of 40.43 on top of his 141 wickets at 32.30. Jason Holder, the tallest at 201cm, scored 2045 runs at 31.95 and took 116 wickets at 27.21, while Kevin Pietersen was a specialist batter who stood 183cm tall and scored 8181 Test runs at 47.28.

Tom Moody, at 1.99m, was the tallest of Australia’s male batters, but his Test career came to an abrupt halt after eight Tests when he was thrust into the opening role on Australia’s tour of Sri Lanka in 1992. I would offer this as a cautionary tale for the current selectors to stop history repeating itself.

Clive Lloyd, with his daughter Samantha, before his last SCG Test.Credit: Kenneth Stevens

Green might be an opening batter in time, but I don’t think he is ready to do it now.

His Achilles heel to date has been against the shorter ball from the genuine pace bowlers. I do not doubt that he will work it out in time, but I’m not sure I would want to risk losing a genuine Test captaincy candidate and a once-in-a-generation cricketer to an experiment at this stage of his career.

In time, I think he will be the perfect candidate to take over from Steve Smith at number four.

The other thing is, that if Green is expected to bowl some quality overs during his career it could be asking too much of him to have to walk straight out to bat after a lengthy stint in the field; especially if he has bowled long spells.

Being tall has some advantages, but rarely if you are a specialist batter. West Indian champion Clive Lloyd stood at 1.93m and amassed 7515 runs in 110 Tests at a healthy average of 46.67. He hit the ball hard and was a good player of both spin and pace, but he was inconvenienced at times by short balls rising to chest height.

Nobody likes the fast, short-pitched ball under the armpit, but the tall player is a bigger target. Whereas a shorter player is also compromised by chest height deliveries, most balls that would hit a taller batsman in the chest would go over the shorter player’s head.

I have the highest regard for Cameron Green’s luminescent talent and I hope that Australian cricket nurtures his immense potential.

We need to develop a five-year strategy to ensure that our proud tradition of being the strongest cricket nation despite our small population is maintained. And, that should start at the top.

We need to think about our budding cricket leaders and how to help their development so that the passing of the baton is seamless.

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