Travis Head vs Steve Smith: Who Will Replace Pat Cummins as Australia’s Captain for Sri Lanka Tour?

Travis Head vs Steve Smith: Travis Head and Steve Smith are in contention to replace Pat Cummins as Australia’s captain for the January-February 2025 tour of Sri Lanka.

Australia will play two Tests and one ODI in the island nation. Regular skipper Cummins may miss the series as he wants to be with his wife Becky, who is expecting their second child.

Travis Head vs Steve Smith: Who Will Lead Australia in Sri Lanka?

Smith is the frontrunner to step in for Cummins as he is the current vice-captain of the Australian Test team and has led his country in the past. However, a survey of 7,000 Yahoo Sport Australia readers revealed that Head is the fans’ favourite option.

At the time of publication, Head had 52 per cent of the vote to Smith’s 35 per cent. Teammates Alex Carey and Mitchell Marsh each received three per cent, while seven per cent of readers voted ‘other’.

Travis Head has been in spectacular form across all formats in 2024. In the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT 2024-25), he has scored 409 runs in five innings at 81.80. The southpaw turns 31 on December 29 and has plenty of time left in the international circuit. These could be some of the reasons why the majority of fans voted for him as Cummins’ deputy.

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Steve Smith’s Struggles Open Door for Travis Head to Captain Australia

Smith has struggled at an average of 28.08 in eight Test matches this year. He will turn 36 in June next year and his future in the red-ball circuit is uncertain.

Whenever Smith decides to hang up his boots, Head looks set to be the next vice-captain. If the right-hander plans to retire soon, it might be a good idea to give Head the chance to captain the Sri Lanka tour if Cummins opts for paternity leave.

Notably, Steve Smith was the Test captain until 2018 when he was infamously banned for 12 months and stripped of the captaincy following the ball-tampering aka Sandpaper Gate scandal in South Africa.

He was banned from holding a leadership role for two years but Cummins has filled the role several times since the ban was lifted.