Michael atherton: Cricket News & Match Updates

Former England captain Michael Atherton has questioned Steve Smith's leadership skills and England's team selection, especially Jack Leach's ouster, ahead of the second Ashes Test at Adelaide Oval. Smith took over from Michael Clarke in 2015 as Australia's Test captain and served in the role until 2018 when he was ousted after the sandpaper scandal in South Africa.

After serving a leadership ban, Smith returned as the vice-captain to Pat Cummins when Tim Paine stepped down due to a text scandal. But Cummins was ruled out of the Adelaide Test, hours before the start on Thursday when he was deemed a close contact of a Covid-19 positive case while dining indoors in a restaurant on Wednesday night. The development meant that Smith was back as the Test captain for Australia for the first time since 2018.   Read More...