Time is right to make Pat Cummins captain, says Shane Warne

Paine
stepped
down
from
the
post
on
Friday
(November
19)
after
being
investigated
by
Cricket
Australia
(CA)
for
sending
explicit
messages
to
a
female
co-worker
in
2017.

Warne
feels
Cummins,
who
is
the
current
vice-captain,
should
be
named
the
captain
immediately
ahead
of
the
Ashes
series.

“For
me,
the
time
is
right
to
make
Pat
Cummins
captain,
something
I
thought
even
before
the
events
of
Friday
unfolded,”
Warne
wrote
in
Australia’s
The
Daily
Telegraph.

Pat
Cummins
backed
to
replace
disgraced
Tim
Paine
as
Australia
Test
captain

The
28-year-old
Cummins,
who
made
his
debut
in
2011,
has
snapped
164
wickets
in
32
Tests.

“The
poster
boy,
respected
and
loved
the
world
over,
Pat
Cummins
should
now
be
named
captain,
and
either
Matt
Wade,
Josh
Inglis
or
Alex
Carey
should
get
their
chance
to
come
in
and
play
Paine’s
role
in
the
Test
team.”

Warne
singled
out
that
Inglis
is
a
“360
degree
player”
and
would
be
the
right
man
for
the
wicketkeeping
job.

“Inglis
gets
my
vote.
He’s
got
silky
smooth
hands
behind
the
stumps,
he’s
a
360
degree
player
with
the
bat
and
coming
off
three
first
class
hundreds
last
season
for
Western
Australia,”
he
wrote.

“He’s
a
great
team
man
who
I
saw
first
hand
at
the
London
Spirit
this
year.
He’s
26.
Get
him
in.”

Tim
Paine
steps
down
from
Australia
Test
captaincy
after
sending
indecent
messages
to
female
co-worker

The
former
leg-spinner
also
empathised
with
Paine,
saying
he
is
just
human
and
shouldn’t
be
judged.

“It
was
sad
to
see
what
happened
last
Friday
on
so
many
levels
and
the
circumstances
in
which
Tim
was
forced
to
stand
down.
I
really
feel
for
him,
what
he’s
going
through,
and
what
his
family
is
going
through,”
Warne
wrote.

“I’m
not
judging
him
on
this
incident.
Just
because
Tim
is
in
the
public
eye
doesn’t
mean
he
won’t
make
a
mistake.
Sportspersons
are
human,
they
have
feelings.
Let’s
stop
the
judgement.
It’s
not
our
place
to
do
that.”

The
Ashes
begins
with
the
first
Test
at
Brisbane
on
December
8.