Smith joined the race for the captaincy of the Australian team, the proposal reached the board

Melbourne. Veteran batsman Steve Smith on Saturday emerged as one of the strong candidates to captain the Australian Test team. The selectors have reportedly sent a proposal to the country’s cricket board to hand over the reins to the former captain. After Tim Paine stepped down from the captaincy, cricket board officials said that although vice-captain Pat Cummins is the front-runner for the top post, Smith is also in the race.

Paine decided to step down as captain on Friday, expressing regret for sending an obscene picture and lewd message to a female colleague. This case is from 2017. Paine was named captain of the Australian Test team in 2018 after the then captain Smith was banned for ball-tampering in South Africa. “There are many candidates who are available for that role, Steve Smith being one of those candidates,” Cricket Australia president Richard Freudenstein said in an online news conference on Saturday. The senior selectors of the team are in favor of appointing Smith as the captain.

“It is understood that the selectors are in favor of making Smith the captain and they have sent a proposal to the board for its approval,” sen.com.au reported in a report published by the Herald Sun. “In this case, however, Cummins has the upper hand and Smith could be made the vice-captain of the team.” If Cummins becomes the captain, he will be the first fast bowler to lead the team since Ray Lindwall in 1956. Lindwall led the team in one match.