Steve Waugh warns Steven Smith about the challenges of captaincy

Steven Smith was appointed Aussie captain after Michael Clarke’s retirement

Former Australian skipper Steve Waugh has offered his word of advice for the new-Aussie skipper Steven Smith, and said that pressure really gets to a captain when he is out of form, reports cricket.com.au. Smith, who has a decent record as a batsman, has continued his good form even after being appointed as captain.

”That will be his biggest challenge, when he has a loss of form and he’s got all the pressure associated with being captain. That’s when it really tests you. He’s got to have a really good, trusted group of people around him that he really values and can listen to, and not take too much outside influence and outside advice. He’s really got to trust himself ”, he said.

Smith will face his first real test when Australia take on their neighbours New Zealand at home, and Waugh feels Smith’s brief previous experience captaining the side before, would be of little benefit in front of the clever Kiwi captain Brendon McCullum.

“The expectation is always there and the pressure is always around you as a captain, but the good thing is he’s had a taste of it,” Waugh said. “More importantly, he wants to do it. You’ve got to want to do the captaincy role, because it is all encompassing. The good thing about Steve Smith is his game is in good shape. It’s very hard to be a captain if you’re not playing well.”

The former Aussie great, who himself was appointed captain almost at the twilight of his test career at the age of 33, doesn’t really feel that Smith, who is all of 26, is too young for the role and said that age was just a number.

"Age is irrelevant, in sport, it's your attitude and what you bring to the table. Do you really want to be there, do you want to make a difference and are you trying to improve yourself?”

“If you tick all those boxes, then I'm not really concerned about what age you are", he felt.

Have been quite successful at Number four: Smith

There has been widespread debate in the Australian team right now regarding the position of the batting order and particularly Smith’s position, after the retirement of Clarke. However, the skipper wants to return to the no. 4 position once again. “I’ve been thinking about it and it is also going to come down to the make-up of the team and what will fit best,” Smith said. “I haven’t completely decided to stay at three or not, we will wait and see. I batted four at the back end of last summer when Michael was out and I was quite successful batting there.”

Since Chris Rogers announced his retirement along with Clarke, Waugh feels that the opening conundrum could be solved by including Western Australia batsman Cameron Bancroft to partner David Warner, and Australia ‘A’ star Usman Khawaja taking the crucial number 3 position.

"I think (Smith) could go back to four, with Khawaja at three, and Bancroft and Warner will open the batting. I think that's a pretty good mix.”

"Hopefully the Marsh boys can cement their positions in the team. They've got a lot of talent, I think if they can have a good year then Australia will have a good year", he concluded.