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Captaincy calls are 'ridiculous': Cummins

Australia fast bowler declares he is not ready to take charge of Test team after Shane Warne said he was captaincy material

Australia spearhead Pat Cummins has rubbished suggestions he's a future Test captain, calling the idea "ridiculous".

Cummins is in career-best form with both ball and bat after his match haul of 9-99 and high score of 63 in the third Domain Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

The stunning performance saw him rise to No.3 on the ICC Test blowing rankings and drew calls from legend Shane Warne that Cummins evokes captaincy material, but for now the 25-year-old is concentrating on his efforts on the field. 

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"I think it’s pretty ridiculous at the moment," Cummins said today in Sydney. 

"We’ve obviously got 'Painey' (Test skipper Tim Paine) at the moment who is doing a brilliant job and I think it’s his for a long time now. 

"I feel like I’m too busy in the game bowling and when I’m batting putting all my effort into that. 

"And when I’m not doing it I’m usually off with the fairies trying to recover. 

"So, I don’t think I would make a very good captain at the moment."

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Cummins said in May last year the vice-captaincy was not on his radar as newly appointed coach Justin Langer conducted the search for the deputies of the national teams. 

The vice-captain search ended with Josh Hazlewood and Mitch Marsh sharing the Test duties, although the recent independent review into the culture of the Australian men's side made it clear having the 'vc' next to your name does not guarantee a clear path to the top job if it becomes vacant.

The last bowler to lead Australia in Test cricket was leg-spinner Richie Benaud, who captained 28 Tests from 1958-63, and the last fast-bowling captain was Ray Lindwall, who was at the helm for one match in 1956.

But Cummins says a fast bowler could be captain despite the grueling workload the quicks endure.

"I think someone like Josh Hazlewood at the moment has an enhanced role as vice-captain, he’s always thinking about the game when he’s out there fielding," Cummins said.

"When he’s batting in the sheds he is always watching and thinking things through. Maybe it’s different personalities, but I see no reason why a bowler can’t be a captain."

Domain Test Series v India

Dec 6-10: India won by 31 runs

Dec 14-18: Australia won by 146 runs

Dec 26-30: India won by 137 runs

Jan 3-7: Fourth Test, SCG

Australia squad: Tim Paine (c, wk), Josh Hazlewood (vc), Mitch Marsh (vc), Pat Cummins, Aaron Finch, Peter Handscomb, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc

India squad: Virat Kohli (c), Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hardik Pandya, Hanuma Vihari, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant (wk), Parthiv Patel (wk), Ravi Ashwin, Ravi Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar