Australian skipper Steve Smith in his biography ‘The Journey’ has revealed how a candid discussion with Brad Haddin and Cricket Australia (CA) board member Mark Taylor at a pub led to him becoming Australia’s captain, replacing Michael Clarke. Smith started captaining the side from 2014 after Michael Clarke got injured.
According to the reports, the decision to appoint Smith as Australian captain was formally taken when Cricket Australia’s board ratified the recommendation from the chairman of selectors Rod Marsh. But informally, that decision was taken when Smith, Haddin and Taylor went out for drinks after the Adelaide Oval Test, in which Clarke suffered an injury.
Here is how the discussion may have started,
“‘Don’t you want to do it then?’ he (Taylor) said to Brad with a smile, perhaps thinking he was joking,” Smith wrote as per cricket.com.au. “‘Are you serious?’ said Mark, and then he turned to me and said: ‘are you ready?’.
“I had absolutely no doubts that I was and said so, and with that Mark said, ‘I’ll go and make some calls then.”
The pub conversation that led to Steve Smith’s ascension as captain: https://t.co/QBvJqm0xiB pic.twitter.com/uBS4tkuZH1
— cricket.com.au (@CricketAus) October 25, 2017
So it seems Steve Smith was mentally ready as the captain of Australia.
Aussie skipper Steve Smith has opened up on arguably the biggest ‘sliding doors’ moment of his career… https://t.co/MoUPXZpP28
— cricket.com.au (@CricketAus) October 25, 2017
Steve Smith will soon be seen leading the baggy green in the Ashes. It is a big tournament, and Australia will be hosting England in their backyard with the Ashes starting from November 23.
