Mark Taylor praises Steve Smith's captaincy

Mark Taylor praises Steve Smith's captaincy

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The former Australian captain Mark Taylor praised Steve Smith's ability as a captain who took the charge in 2015 after the retirement of Michael Clarke. However, Taylor believes that Smith has not yet perfected the art of man management and will get better at the job as time progresses.

Mark Taylor, who led Australia in 50 Tests during the period of 1994-99, in an interview with Australian channel Nine on Sunday gave Smith 8.5 out of 10 as he suggested that Smith still lacks a certain quality which was "man-management".

"As a captain, I'm going to give him 8.5 (out of 10), because I think he'll only get better and better – he's not a 10 yet,His batting, fielding and leadership off the field has been absolutely excellent, particularly in the wake of what happened last summer – beaten in two Test matches by South Africa, (and) flogged in Hobart, he grabbed the team and said, 'Righto, this is not good enough'. And he's improved them." said Taylor.

However, Taylor suggested that Smith could have subdued the issue with Glenn Maxwell that happened due to the all-rounder's publicly showcasing his frustration at being left out in a Sheffield Sheild match over his Australian and Victorian teammate Matthew Wade.

"The only area I think (Smith) will get better is the man management side of it," Taylor said. "I didn't think he handled the Glenn Maxwell stuff that well this year, but I think he'll get better." 

Following Maxwell's public display of emotion, Australia's leadership unit and Smith himslef took to the public platform to condemn Maxwell's behaviour.

"We thought that was a sufficient punishment," Smith had said then. "We've gone down that path and I was disappointed with the comments that he made.

"Wadey was pretty disappointed as well, like all the other players.As I said, I talk about a respect thing for your teammates and particularly the captain of your state.He was disappointed but we've moved on from that now."

Maxwell was not included in Australia's playing XI in the ODI series against New Zealand which took place after the Wade comments. Moreover, the all-rounder has not been utilised for bowling since his return to the side in the Pakistan series in January and the same trend continued in the Border-Gavaskar Test series in India when Maxwell bowled just four overs while the spin duo of Nathan Lyon and Steve O' Keefe got 123 overs between them.

Taylor was taken aback at Maxwell's under utilisation as a bowler in the Test series against India and crticised Steve Smith for doing so.

"The man-management side, I think this year he made a blue with Glenn Maxwell," he explained. "I think he punished him for too long.He (Maxwell) had his problems with Matthew Wade, I think they had a blue off the field … (Smith will) get better at the job and he'll handle those things a little bit quicker, and not let them drag on; I think they dragged on into India, and with the Glenn Maxwell thing he didn't bowl him enough to get some wickets out of him.", the 52-year old said.

"He's an introverted type guy and that's very different because people are used to seeing captains more out there, more flamboyant,Steve is just a lover of the game, (and) a historian of the game." he said.

"He's more of a student of the game than you probably think he is; he absolutely loves it and he's a bit of a sponge, (which is) a bit like Michael Clarke in that regard. He loves talking cricket, he loves being around cricket and cricketers.", he added.

Steve Smith has grown leaps and bounds as captain of the Australia team as he averages 73.27 after taking on the reins of the team while before the reponsibility the Australian averaged 51.83. Taylor suggested that it was a sign of his success as the captain.

"Ricky Ponting did it (improved his record as a batsman)," he said. "Steve Waugh I think got better as the captain in terms of his batting.I think (Smith) has really enjoyed his elevation … he enjoys the responsibility, and it's making him a better player."

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