No reason why Smith should not captain again: Lara
Image : Getty
||Desk Report ||
West Indies great Brian Lara says Steve Smith has his faults but he remains a role model for youngsters and there is no reason why he should not captain Australia again.
Lara knows all about the pressures that comes with leadership, having had three stints in the top job during an illustrious but controversial career where he finished with almost 12,000 Test runs.
Smith's two-year ban from an official leadership role as a result of the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa expires in late March and he appears the man most likely to replace Tim Paine should there be a change. He has recently been re-installed as captain of the Rajasthan Royals in next year's Indian Premier League, with Lara declaring Smith been a fine leader until the "mishap" of Cape Town.
"His leadership was up there with the very best. A mishap like that, he played a huge price for it. You look at the fact the he took over at Rajasthan Royals for the IPL season," he told The Age-Sydney Morning Herald on Monday.
"The other 10 [Australian] guys that take the field with him, or the coaches, the management - I believe there is a lot of respect for him. Everyone has most likely put behind [them] what has gone on. I don't think that will be troublesome at all if he ever resumes that position at all.
"He has come back from places that some of us have never experienced. I am talking about a couple of years ago. He is someone that youngsters should look up to. He is not a perfect human being, that you think that somebody should be. He has come back. He has made sure that he is a great example to follow."
