Steve Smith’s appointment was recommended by Cricket Australia’s (CA) national selection panel and was endorsed by CA’s board of directors on Sunday night.
Explaining Smith’s appointment, wicket-keeping great and selector Rodney Marsh said: “These are difficult circumstances given Michael’s (Clarke) injury. What we do know is that it won’t be an overnight fix so after a lot of thought we have taken the opportunity to appoint an emerging young leader as captain until such time as Michael regains fitness and returns to the side.”
Marsh added, “We congratulate Steve (Smith) on the wonderful honour of leading his country. On Wednesday he will become Australia’s 45th Test captain and at the age of 25 will become one of our youngest leaders.”
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Marsh thought highly of Smith’s abilities, “He is an exceptional young man who is highly regarded by the national selection panel not only for his fine performances with the bat but also his maturity and clear leadership potential.”
On Brad Haddin missing out, Marsh said, “Brad has done an exceptional job as vice-captain since assuming the role last year and will provide strong support to Steve just as he has done for Michael.”
He continued, “There was a strong argument for Brad to assume the captaincy until Michael returns, but given we don’t know how long that will be, we felt the time was right to take a longer-term view and give a young player this chance.”
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Commenting on the announcement, CA chairman Wally Edwards said: “The Board fully endorsed the recommendation put forward by the selectors. Steve is an impressive young leader who deserves high praise for his temperament and on-field performances to date.
“We believe he will do an excellent job when given the chance to captain his country against India.” The leadership change relates only to Test cricket.