Steve Smith not sound enough to lead Australia, claims Kerry O' Keefe
.jpg)
Getty Images
Kerry O’Keefe believes that the emotions that lie at the core of Steve Smith’s game are not ideal to lead Australia in high-pressure situations. O’Keefe added that Smith overreacted more than once during the now concluded Test series against India, even if Smith had a good tour on a personal level.
Despite apologizing for letting his emotions falter during the four-match Test series against India, Steve Smith has a big detractor in the shape of former Australian cricketer Kerry O’Keefe who said that Smith's temperament is not ideal to captain Australia. Smith scored an astonishing 499 runs in the four-match series but ended up on the losing side after Indian won the final match at Dharamsala to regain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2-1.
Speaking on 'Fox Sports' Back Page Live', O’Keefe said, "He leads from the front (and) he's finding out about leadership, is he temperamentally sound enough to be the captain of our country? Probably not because he's so emotional. We've seen when he's on the field he's overly reacting to everything."
O’Keefe who played 24 Tests for Australia picking up 53 wickets, cited Smith’s foul-mouthed rant against Murali Vijay’s overruled catch as a particular reference for his case. "That catch was (not) cleanly taken. He decided to go with the cheat line. There's an emotion to Steve Smith that basically is at the core of his game," O'Keefe added.
