With Australia’s current Test cricket captain Michael Clarke struggling more and more with injuries, questions have to be asked about who Australia’s next captain will be.

Even after his courageous knock of 128 in the first Test of the 2014-2015 summer against India, after retiring hurt during the first day on 60, he probably doesn’t have a lot of time left.

So out of the current crop of players, who is the best option as the next captain of the Australian Test team?

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Clarke is going to be a hard man to replace when he eventually does fade off into the sunset, and will be remembered as one of Australia’s best captains ever.

Not only for the amount of runs he has scored but for his tactical knowledge of the game and the aggressive way he approached the captaincy, always looking for a result no matter how dire the situation seemed.

So who are the candidates? The player’s age is also shown in brackets.

Brad Haddin (37)

Haddin is the current vice-captain of the Australian Test cricket team, and would be a natural selection as the next captain, if it wasn’t for him being 37.

With that being taken into account he will never have a chance to officially become captain for a period of time longer than Michael Clarke is sitting out with injury. Other than that he has good credentials to captain Australia and could get his chance during this Test series.

Shane Watson (33)

Watson has captained Australia before following the infamous homework incident in India, and was vice captain for a period of time. However, he is now suffering about as many injuries as Clarke and with age not on his side, nor his form of late, there is next to no chance that Watson will ever captain his country again.



George Bailey (32)

Bailey is one option who, while not currently in the Australian Test side, does have some Test experience. What Bailey can also bring to the table is some excellent leadership credentials, with some claiming on The Roar that he may even be a better One Day captain than Michael Clarke.

Bailey, however, has a few things working against him. His first class average is abysmal, and matches his Test average from last summer when he got a baggy green after displaying some excellent One Day form.

The other thing working against Bailey now is age. Being a 32-year-old who struggles to score runs against the red ball and has so far wasted opportunities, it is highly doubtful, especially with so many strong youngsters in the Australian cricket system, that he will ever get to play Test match cricket again.

Steve Smith (25)

Steve Smith is the man who is being widely touted as he next captain of the Australian Test team, and at the current moment I find it very hard to disagree.

In the past year or so, he has been in prolific form, scoring runs nearly every time he goes out to bat. With his batting average increasing all the time and age on his side there is no reason why he shouldn’t be the next Test captain of Australia.

The only thing counting against him is his lack of leadership experience, however in his limited experience he has done an excellent job, including leading the NSW Blues through the Sheffield Shield grand final last season.

David Warner (28)

I’ve always been a big supporter of David Warner. What he brings to a cricket team is something very few batsman around the world can do and he is in a very elite class. The form he has been in this summer is outstanding and he has shown many signs of maturity over the last 12 months.

Is he the right choice to become the next Test captain though? Will becoming the captain of his country affect his batting?



His batting is such a valuable asset to the Australian Test team and there is no way they can afford to lose his demolishing ways at the top of the order. On the other side of the coin, watching from afar, it would seem he has always had a pretty sharp cricketing brain and with his continuing maturity he could be the perfect choice.

The other advantage is that he is neither too young nor too old and he certainly has enough experience in the Test arena.

Aaron Finch (28)

Finch is currently one of the best Twenty20 and ODI players going around and also happens to be the current captain of the Australian Twenty20 team. However he has never played a Test match and his first class batting average is less than impressive, meaning he would need a massive Sheffield Shield season to force his way into the Australian.

If he does perform, however, his leadership credentials will get a massive boost. Age is also beginning to go against Finch, even though he is the same age as Warner, mainly because he hasn’t made his Test debut yet.

That is a massive setback for him to take over from Clarke.

Mitchell Marsh (23)

Marsh is only just beginning to get into the swing of his career in the Test team, however after only playing two matches in the United Arab Emirates against Pakistan earlier this year, Clarke was already giving Marsh a glowing endorsement.

No doubt Marsh is a very talented youngster, but is this a little bit premature from Michael Clarke? I’d say it is premature, but he has shown plenty of potential and his first class records are certainly very decent numbers.

It will be very interesting to see how his career progresses and, while he probably won’t be anywhere near ready to captain his country when Clarke retires, he could be a bit after. The potential is there to be a future captain.



My verdict

There is no way I can go past either David Warner or Steven Smith as Australia’s next Test captain. They have both become outstanding young players and young men.

Experience as leaders is of course limited for both but from everything they have shown in the last 12 months there is no reason why they won’t do a fine job.

My final verdict is Steve Smith as captain and David Warner as vice captain. But in any order those two are the men to be Australia’s future leaders.