With an eye toward the future, Australia’s Travis Head was selected co-vice-captain.

The Australian Test squad has officially named Travis Head as co-vice captain alongside Steven Smith. Travis Head was Australia’s star performer in the recent victories in the World Test Championship final and the ODI World Cup 2023 final. As he emphasized the need to strengthen the leadership core in Australian cricket, current captain Pat Cummins showed faith in Head’s potential to lead the team in Test cricket in the future.

Ahead of Australia’s first Test match against Pakistan in Perth, the 29-year-old was officially added to Australia’s leadership group. The team lineup was also revealed by Cummins, who confirmed Nathan Lyon’s injury comeback as the only alteration from their July Test match at the Oval against England. In the XI, Lyon takes Todd Murphy’s spot as the only spinner.

“I’m thrilled Trav is joining us as a co-vice captain. He has a lot of experience playing. He has led our group from the beginning. So, we decided that now would be a good moment to properly acknowledge that. Steve’s playing days are limited, even though nothing is imminent. I venture to say that I won’t be captain forever. According to ESPNcricinfo, Cummins stated, “We feel like we have a responsibility to future-proof the team and start trying to give opportunities to other leaders.”

We all adore the personality he adds to the team, in my opinion. You can see it, in my opinion, in the way he plays cricket. It has some degree of liberty to it. He starts playing. It pleases him. He never fails to smile,” he continued.

Travis Head had previously served as vice captain in 2018.

As the primary backup to Cummins in case of need, Smith continues to serve as the senior vice captain. Significantly, the right-handed batter had captained Australia in 34 Test matches prior, from 2014 to 2018, and had stood in for Cummins in four Test matches during the previous two years, while the latter was sidelined for a variety of reasons.

Previously, Head and Pat Cummins had shared the role of co-vice-captain during Tim Paine’s captaincy. Mitchell Marsh and Josh Hazlewood, who had been named co-vice-captains in October 2018 following the sandpaper incident, were replaced as Paine’s deputies by the pair in February 2019.