Who captains Australia in the Ashes?

So, with all the current goings on... who stands opposite Stuart Broad for the toss at [ground to be confirmed] at the start of next summer’s series?

The same who'd captain them in the series before.

There are no obvious candidates, which is highly unusual for Aus cricket.

Bailey seems to be front of mind but he's old and past his best as a batsman.

And that's now, in 15 months he'll be 15 months more past it.

A couple of years back I mentioned that it was far from obvious who our next captain was going to be, but the urgency factor was zero. The leading candidates then were DD and Quodge, who is fading fast and can thank The Debacle for the fact that he's still in the side on Friday.

Fred Nerk wrote:And that's now, in 15 months he'll be 15 months more past it.

A couple of years back I mentioned that it was far from obvious who our next captain was going to be, but the urgency factor was zero. The leading candidates then were DD and Quodge, who is fading fast and can thank The Debacle for the fact that he's still in the side on Friday.

Aye Nerkles. At just 28 Smith has thrown away a very lucrative 8 or so years as Australian Cricket Captain.

I chose another.

One hopes a talented Andrew Nother does come out of the woodwork.

Could be a player yet to make his debut, I guess. A Graeme Smith-style “clean break with the past” appointment, who potentially holds the job for a decade.

It won’t be a bowler or keeper. Hard to think of any batsmen who will (a) be a fixture in the team and (b) not be persona non grata. May as well draw a name out of a hat.

ojitarian wrote:It won’t be a bowler or keeper. Hard to think of any batsmen who will (a) be a fixture in the team and (b) not be persona non grata. May as well draw a name out of a hat.

Well, if Paine does OK I guess he might keep it for a while, though keepers rarely captain long term and he’s not a good enough batsman to give up the gloves and play another keeper.

Our next captain is equally un-obvious, hence my opening line... two ageing seam bowlers are next in line with Stokes out of the frame (he’d have been a Beefy/Freddie style craptain anyway). There’s a lack of established batsmen, and if this summer doesn’t go well I can see Root stepping down for the sake of his batting. We could yet see two unlikely leaders contesting the next Ashes.

The bnlg and fleas are Campaigning for the lamentable Mere. Expect he will get the gig and confirm his place as the worst number 6 in test history. In a compromise deal Reeks FFS will be vice captain.

The Oz xi will comprise the Warpy Shield team plus Reeks FFS.

Alec Stewart wasn't a total disaster as keeper/skipper, beams - and as li'l Johnny isn't in imminent danger of the chop he's a possibility for a while at least.

I should add the Warpy Shield team are not so much all conquering, as all conquered.

Ashton Turner or Ashton Agar might yet captain this circus.

Paine is in the right place at the right time, for once in his life. He would keep as that remains his strongest suit.

I don’t think Handscomb or Head are remotely up to it.

horace wrote:The bnlg and fleas are Campaigning for the lamentable Mere. Expect he will get the gig and confirm his place as the worst number 6 in test history. In a compromise deal Reeks FFS  will be vice captain.

The Oz xi will comprise the Warpy Shield team plus Reeks FFS.

Puddle is only just now getting his head right for Test Cricket. Now is not the time to lumber him with the highest office in the land.

lardbucket wrote:Ashton Turner or Ashton Agar might yet captain this circus.

Paine is in the right place at the right time, for once in his life. He would keep as that remains his strongest suit.

I don’t think Handscomb or Head are remotely up to it.

Maybe one of the Ashtons can be Bailey's Barnum

Growler wrote:Alec Stewart wasn't a total disaster as keeper/skipper, beams - and as li'l Johnny isn't in imminent danger of the chop he's a possibility for a while at least.

Yeah, though he doesn’t really appear to be on the captaincy radar at the moment, just being an established member of the side is enough to make someone a strong candidate.

Stewart only did it for 18 months or so, didn’t he, barring the odd stand-in match before and perhaps after? Not sure he would have kept and captained for 4-5 years had his tenure been longer (particularly given he would have been well into his 30s by then). It was a World Cup failure that cost him the Test job, even though it was around the time when split captaincy became commonplace (I remember they experimented with Adam Hollioake leading the JAMODI side briefly, was that a bit later?) Getting Nasser Hussain in charge proved the right move for England in the long run though.

We know it will be a Warpy. East Praetoria is the centre.

The Sneak is not up to it. Despite a reasonable Test record he is too sharp. Head is a good State skipper but comes from the wrong State.

Failey has been tried and bailed at Test level. Maybe he shd get an assistant coaching role with the national team. I have always liked Ed Cowan and maybe he too could be on the coaching panel or maybe the NSP.

I hope the review promised by Dame Joan will look at the NSP. It needs a clean out starting with Kjnr. A panel chaired by Cowan and comprising some astute judges like Shep, White and Gillespie might balance out the bnlg and restore a modicum of sense and decency to national selection and standards, by ensuring no dickheads are selected.

Thing is beams, due to age and/or experience (or lack of), and form, Stewie was essentially on a short list of one for England Skipper. Nasser may have got the gig, but his form was dogshit - but as you say, he was promoted later and did a decent job.

I think Paine is in a similar place for Australia - who else is there just now?

They should resist as best they can the urge to put in an SOS like they did when Warne was in the sin-bin...Shane was a 100% certainty to take up his seat again (Steve is a long way from that), and his Official Seatwarmer wasn't new to the gig. If they have an instinct about a younger candidate, they should run with it. Even if we wind up with Mishmash.

Yeah, we had the same with Strauss some years later, if it hadn’t been for his poor form the ill-fated KP experiment wouldn’t have happened in the first place, but he was still next cab off the rank after that due to lack of other candidates.

While there’s often an obvious heir apparent (arguably every new Aussie captain since Border, until now, has been in that position before taking over), sometimes it’s just about being in the right place at the right time.

They may have to carry a below par batsman who is a good skipper. Not the first time we've done that.

Bradman wrote:They may have to carry a below par batsman who is a good skipper. Not the first time we've done that.

Finch is a good skipper but is below against the red ball.

He will skipper the jamodi and T20 teams with SS and gcspoc gone.

SS was our 45th Test captain. Coincidence of course....

You just know its gonna be one of the Marsh boys.