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In a major announcement today, Australian selectors have confirmed the appointment of David Warner as a deputy to Steven Smith. This is an important development in the Australian cricket as they plan to rebuild a winning side post-Michael Clarke’s retirement after the fifth Ashes Test.
Warner, who was the erstwhile bad boy of Australian cricket team has been elevated to a significant position. Selectors also signed off to the decision of giving the captaincy to Steven Smith.
Australia is scheduled to play a three-day tour match with Northampton today, which might be delayed due to rain. Australia will be led by Smith in the absence of Clarke, who is spending quality time with his family in London before his last international match. Warner is expected to assume his role as vice-captain for the first time in this match.
Rod Marsh, the chief selector, who is with the team in the Northampton, was quoted saying, “We have reached a point in time where we’ve had to look at our leadership positions again with an eye to the future.”
Marsh added that “David has matured and developed into an important senior figure in the Australian team. He has come a long way. He had valuable experience captaining the Sunrisers (Hyderabad) in the IPL earlier this year and we are confident he will provide strong support to Steve as his deputy. We believe that he will respond well to the added responsibility of leadership,” according to an article in the cricket.com.au
It is interesting to note that prior to this announcement, Warner, in an interview had made a pitch for himself as the vice-captain.
He had said, “Definitely if the opportunity (to be vice-captain) arises I’d love to take that, but obviously at the end of the day I’ve got to do my job for the team, which is to score runs.”
Warner was not even in the contention to be in the playing eleven a couple of months back, but the recent Ashes debacle coupled with Clarke’s retirement has helped his rise.
He had also publically announced about curbing his aggressive instinct, which must have gone well with the selectors, particularly after the controversial run in against Indian batsman Rohit Sharma.
“I’ve got a lot of hundreds and I’m playing a good brand of cricket. There’s been a little bit of a hiccup with the Rohit Sharma stuff, but at the end of the day that was on the field and I’ve learned to bite my tongue a little bit now. I’ve got to keep moving forward and my job is to score runs,” Warner was quoted by cricket.com.au.
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