Josh Hazlewood puts his hand up for Australia Test vice-captaincy

With Australian selectors yet to name Tim Paine’s deputy in Tests, pacer Josh Hazlewood has expressed a willingness to take up the role saying a fast bowler’s perspective would be helpful for the new skipper.

Australia’s next assignment in white clothes starts against Pakistan in the UAE in October following which the team will take on India and Sri Lanka at home on either side of the New Year.

“Yeah, I would love to do it. It’s a great opportunity to get one of the bowlers there and get our point of view, what’s happening on the field and so on. It would be very exciting to get the role,” Hazlewood said during a video interview with Australian Cricketers Association.

The 27-year-old swing bowler, who has so far claimed 151 wickets at an average of 26.84 from 40 Tests, believes he is an ideal candidate for the role considering his experience. He would, though, not mind any of his other pace bowling colleagues getting the role.

“I have been with the team for quite a while and have played 40 odd Test matches. It’s quite a young group when you take some of those senior guys out. I think being a bowler; it would be good to have one of us in the captaincy. You know it’s quite exciting. There are a couple of guys who are good candidates. Whoever gets it would do a great job with Paine,” he added.

Paine was named Australia’s skipper in the aftermath of the ball-tampering scandal that came to the fore during the team’s tour to South Africa in March this year and resulted in a yearlong ban to the then skipper Steve Smith and the then vice-captain David Warner. Opener Cameron Bancroft was also slapped a six-month santion for his role in tampering.

With many experts thinking of Paine as a stop gap arrangement only considering he is 33, Australia may have to look towards some of the younger guys for the captaincy role in future and Hazlewood believes there are a couple of players from the current group who could prove a good leader.

“Some of the younger guys like Mitch Marsh and Peter Handscomb may not have cemented their sports in all the three formats of the game, but they done well in captaincy with their state teams,” he said.

First Published: Aug 03, 2018 15:59 IST