{"id":4274,"date":"2021-12-13T19:09:37","date_gmt":"2021-12-13T18:09:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/idrottsforum.org\/forumbloggen\/?p=4274"},"modified":"2021-12-13T19:12:51","modified_gmt":"2021-12-13T18:12:51","slug":"pat-cummins-becomes-australian-mens-test-captain-why-is-it-so-rare-for-a-fast-bowler-to-take-the-reins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/idrottsforum.org\/forumbloggen\/pat-cummins-becomes-australian-mens-test-captain-why-is-it-so-rare-for-a-fast-bowler-to-take-the-reins\/","title":{"rendered":"Pat Cummins becomes Australian men\u2019s test captain: why is it so rare for a fast bowler to take the\u00a0reins?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
AAP\/Darren England<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Australian men\u2019s test cricket captain Tim Paine\u2019s sudden resignation due to a sexting scandal<\/a> meant a rapid search for a suitable new captain. The most obvious choice was Pat Cummins<\/a>, the current vice-captain and the world\u2019s best fast bowler. Cricket Australia has today confirmed Cummins will step into the role ahead of the Ashes series starting on December 8. Steve Smith will be the deputy.<\/p>\n

Described as a \u201ccleanskin<\/a>\u201d by former test captain Greg Chappell \u2013 perhaps unwisely, as that was also Paine\u2019s image<\/a> when he became captain after the Sandpapergate<\/a> scandal \u2013 Cummins had plenty of support to fulfil the role often described as second only to the prime minister in importance in Australia.<\/p>\n

But there was one major reservation \u2013 no fast bowler has captained the men\u2019s team since Ray Lindwall stood in for one test match on the 1956-57 tour of India. Why are batters, wicketkeepers or even spin bowlers (such as Richie Benaud<\/a>) favoured over fast bowlers to lead a cricket team?<\/p>\n

Fit for the captaincy role<\/h3>\n

Unlike a batter-captain fielding in the slips, it is asked whether a revved-up fast bowler can make sophisticated on-field decisions, such as ending a spell of their own bowling at the right time. Could they see the big game management picture through the red mist that descends for many pace bowlers when facing an opposition batter? A spinner uses guile rather than the intimidation of speed to take wickets, so it is assumed they have the necessary tactical acumen.<\/p>\n

Even with regard to physical positioning on the cricket field, fast bowlers are viewed as either too close to the action when bowling and too far from it when, as is conventional, fielding on the boundary.<\/p>\n

Most importantly, fast bowlers<\/a> have a reputation for being brawny, unintellectual types, while batters are regarded as more cultured and thoughtful. There is more than a tinge here of what is called \u201cstacking<\/a>\u201d in sport. This concept involves the racial, ethnic and class stereotyping that assigns leadership positions in team sports (and later in coaching roles) to the already socially privileged. The less privileged generally follow directions, especially where their duties involve brute force.<\/p>\n

This replication of the traditional mental-physical labour hierarchy has been found in sports such as American football, soccer, basketball, baseball, rugby union<\/a> and cricket<\/a>.<\/p>\n

So how did Cummins overcome the reservations that ruled out distinguished pace-bowling predecessors such as Dennis Lillee<\/a> and Glenn McGrath as captaincy material?<\/p>\n

A different class of fast bowler<\/h3>\n

Ever since his emergence as a cricket prodigy in 2011, Cummins has been routinely regarded as the pride of Penrith<\/a> in the working-class \u201cheartland<\/a>\u201d of Greater Western Sydney. Certainly he played around and for Penrith in his formative years, but was brought up in the small, lower Blue Mountains town of Mount Riverview.<\/p>\n

With an accountant and manager father and schoolteacher mother, he went to grammar school in nearby Cranebrook, later venturing east to the University of Technology, Sydney. There, as part of its Elite Athlete Program, he completed a Bachelor of Business degree.<\/p>\n

Cummins has acquired a reputation as a controlled, almost bookish breed of fast bowler whose commitment to matters environmental<\/a>, Indigenous and anti-racist<\/a> might attract the go-to derogatory label \u201cwoke\u201d.<\/p>\n

His appointment as test captain continues Paine\u2019s cultural approach of distancing Australian men\u2019s cricket from the win-at-all costs mentality and macho posturing<\/a> that saw the Test team slide down the team affinity<\/a> rankings among fans.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Cummins has become a rarity in Australian cricket – a fast bowler-captain – following the resignation of Tim Paine (left).\u00a0AAP\/AP\/Tertius Pickard<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

His good looks and wholesome style give him \u201cbrand appeal<\/a>\u201d in intensely competitive global sport and media markets<\/a>. Cummins is as-yet untainted by scandal, unlike another candidate, Smith, who was deposed as captain and suspended after the ball-tampering scandal in 2018, only to be appointed Cummins\u2019 vice-captain.<\/p>\n

In the light of the tearful exits of captains Smith and Paine, cricket\u2019s caution about ethical standards and \u201cskeletons in the closet\u201d resembles the \u201cfit and proper person test\u201d in the corporate world.<\/p>\n

Captains in crisis<\/h3>\n

Being the captain of a team<\/a> is a tricky remit, requiring a teammate to be \u201cfirst among equals\u201d, having sensitive conversations with peers, and making important decisions that can affect whole careers. Captains must attend to their own sporting performance with the additional burden of making calls that every armchair critic will scrutinise.<\/p>\n

That Cummins has been appointed captain a short time before a home men\u2019s Ashes<\/a> series, with its huge historical baggage, places his personal conduct in the public eye as never before.<\/p>\n

His English opponents must deal with their own pressing reputational crisis following allegations their national game is \u201cinstitutionally racist<\/a>\u201d and that captain Joe Root has been oblivious<\/a> to racist behaviour among his Yorkshire teammates. The cricket authorities in both countries have been criticised for \u201cblundering deeper<\/a>\u201d into crisis.<\/p>\n

Cummins\u2019 time to celebrate the T20 Men\u2019s World Cup victory was brief, curtailed as it was by Paine\u2019s ignominious exit. He must rally a disrupted test team in cricket\u2019s longest-running and most renowned series, and rise to the challenge of becoming a captain who bowls fast thinks even faster on his feet.
\n\"The<\/p>\n

\n

Previously published by theconversation.com<\/a>. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Copyright \u00a9 David Rowe 2021<\/strong>
\nEmail: d.rowe@westernsydney.edu.au<\/a>
\nTwitter: @rowe_david<\/a>
\nWebsite: https:\/\/westernsydney.edu.au\/ics\/people\/researchers\/david_rowe<\/a><\/p>\n

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Australian men\u2019s test cricket captain Tim Paine\u2019s sudden resignation due to a sexting scandal meant a rapid search for a suitable new captain. The most obvious choice was Pat Cummins, the current vice-captain and the world\u2019s best fast bowler. Cricket Australia has today confirmed Cummins will step into the role ahead of the Ashes series […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":4280,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-4274","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-okategoriserade"},"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/idrottsforum.org\/forumbloggen\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/dr1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2JbBl-16W","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/idrottsforum.org\/forumbloggen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/idrottsforum.org\/forumbloggen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/idrottsforum.org\/forumbloggen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idrottsforum.org\/forumbloggen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idrottsforum.org\/forumbloggen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4274"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/idrottsforum.org\/forumbloggen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4274\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4292,"href":"https:\/\/idrottsforum.org\/forumbloggen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4274\/revisions\/4292"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idrottsforum.org\/forumbloggen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/idrottsforum.org\/forumbloggen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idrottsforum.org\/forumbloggen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idrottsforum.org\/forumbloggen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}