“I think England would be happier with Cummins”: Steve Harmison believes England will benefit with Pat Cummins’ captaincy in the Ashes 2021

Ashes 2021: Former English pacer Steve Harmison believes that the decision of making Cummins Australia’s captain will benefit England.

After all the speculations, Pat Cummins is the new test captain of Australia. He will be Australia’s 47th test captain, whereas he is the first pacer to lead Australia in 65 years. Steve Smith is the new vice-captain, and he is formally back in the leadership role. The last week has not been great for Australian cricket. Tim Paine stepped down as the captain of the side and now has taken an indefinite break from cricket.

After the leadership roles announcement, there has been mixed sort of reactions from the former players. Ricky Pointing has revealed his fear of a pacer becoming the captain, whereas some of them are unhappy with Smith’s return. Former England pacer Steve Harmison has also given his opinion on the appointment of Pat Cummins.

Ashes 2021: Steve Harmison describes Pat Cummins’ appointment as “GAMBLE”

Steve Harmison believes that decision of making Pat Cummins the captain will benefit England. He insists that Steve Smith would have been the ideal candidate for the captaincy role.

“I don’t think this is the Australia of old … it’s a big call,’’ Harmison said in the Cricket Collective podcast.

“I think England would be happier with Cummins than Steve Smith. For me, if you put too much pressure on Pat in the Ashes that could prove the difference because both batting units are frail and can be got at.”

Harmison believes that Australians should not have a problem in calling Steve Smith back as their captain. He has also labeled Cummins’ appointment as a gamble.

“I look at that decision being a big gamble for Australia. If there is nobody else, fine. I am not Australian, but I think if you had a natural leader there who has done the job before, you would have to go with him.”

“If I was an Australian, I would not have a problem with Steve Smith coming back.”

Steve Harmison has scalped 226 test wickets in just 63 games, whereas he also has 76 ODI wickets in 58 games.