Australia set to rotate Pat Cummins' ODI captaincy stand-ins

Australia will look to expand their ODI captaincy pool over the next 12 months, with the likelihood that a variety of different players will stand in for Pat Cummins when needed after Josh Hazlewood took the role in Sydney.

Hazlewood, who had never captained in a professional game but was previously an ODI vice-captain, stepped in against England when Cummins rested, having led his first game in the format in Adelaide two days ago. He is now set to be the frontrunner if the same situation arises again - Cummins is likely to return for the final match in Melbourne on Tuesday - but given he may also need to be rested as a multi-format bowler, others could come into the frame.

"At this stage, probably yes," Hazlewood said if this move now made him first-choice behind Cummins. "It's hard to say, I'm a fast bowler, and I'll probably be missing games here and there as well.

"We've obviously got [Steven] Smith, who was vice-captain tonight, and down the chain, there's another couple in the leadership group. So there's plenty of options there and I felt even out in the middle there were a number of senior players I could talk to and get their opinions."

At the toss, Hazlewood had spoken of a "wider leadership group", with Cummins himself saying when he took the job that he believed a broader collection of captains could work in ODIs in the lead-up to next year's World Cup in India.

"Test cricket is a different story," Hazlewood said after the match. "There's one captain and it's his team, whereas the one-dayers and T20s you've often got a different looking group and a different looking senior group. I think it's a good model, and I think it's working so far."

Hazlewood admitted to taking a little while to settle in the field - his first two overs conceded 21 - and reckoned he would have to go back to school cricket for his last time captaining a side.

"It was pretty exciting first of all and a little bit nerve-wracking," he said. "But once we got into a stride on the field, it was good fun. I certainly enjoyed it, and it was a bit of a challenge there while that partnership was going and then we got a couple of wickets and that set the game up.

"I was thinking about everyone else's bowling rather than my own at the start but got into a groove there. And then everything seemed to flow pretty well. But all in all, you leave it up to the bowlers. They know the delivery they want to bowl and they own their field and they own their result as well. So there weren't any times I had to step in at all or argue, so it was smooth sailing."

While Cummins has opted out of IPL 2023 in order to focus on being fresh for international duty, he is expected to be further rotated in the one-day side. When asked about the potential length of his ODI captaincy before this series, Cummins said he was not looking beyond the World Cup and the expectation is he will not retain the role after that, heading into another four-year cycle.

The decision to choose Hazlewood as stand-in meant that he jumped ahead of other names who have recently captained Australia. Alex Carey stood in for an injured Aaron Finch on the tour of the West Indies last year, leading the side to a 2-1 series win, and Smith deputised for Cummins during the last Ashes at home when he was ruled out of the Adelaide Test due to being a close Covid contact.

"I don't expect Pat to play every one-day game in the lead up to the World Cup," selection chair George Bailey had said when Cummins was announced ODI captain. "We've got a number of players within the group who can assume the leadership should they need to. So I expect we might see two or three guys taking the leadership at some stage.

"We are moving away from this concept of a captain taking over and their leadership being all encompassing. It's very much a collaboration at times."

David Warner could also be an option in the future should his leadership ban be overturned, with a decision on that expected in the near future. Travis Head, who captains South Australia and Adelaide Strikers, could be another candidate.

However, the future of Australia's T20I captaincy remains up in the air. Finch has said he won't make a decision on his career until after the BBL, but he is not expected to continue through the 2024 World Cup in the West Indies and the USA.