Smith: Warne wants to 'captain'
2005-12-25 13:22
Melbourne - South African cricket captain Graeme Smith says Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne tries to "take over" from his skipper Ricky Ponting when things get tough, and says Warne questions some of Ponting's tactics.
Smith said on Sunday he thought Warne, a former Australian vice-captain, was frustrated that he never made the next step to be Test skipper.
"I think more than anything else, he's probably disappointed with the fact that he has never captained Australia," Smith said on the eve of the second test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
"We've certainly noticed the pressure he puts Ricky under out in the field. Especially when things get tough, he takes over and he puts them under a lot of pressure.
"He's doubted his decisions a few times. Because Shane is offering so much advice, it's hard to kind of sift through what is good and what is not good at times."
"We noticed it during the Ashes series also and it's certainly something we picked up in the first Test match."
Ponting was forced to defend his captaincy after losing the Ashes series 2-1. He often consulted Warne on the field regarding tactical decisions, leading to criticism that Ponting needed to be more assertive.
"Warnie is certainly a very focal guy in their team. He's a big name, a big cricketer and a big performer for them," Smith said. "He is a big, innovative guy. He's got a lot of things going through his brain. But he can put his captain under a lot of pressure."
Smith laughed off Warne's assertion
Smith laughed off Warne's assertion that his own captaincy lacks imagination after South Africa made no attempt to chase down a world record target of 491 runs in four sessions in the drawn first test in Perth.
Warne wrote in a Brisbane Courier-Mail newspaper column on Saturday: "It (Perth) was pretty hard work for bowlers but there is not a lot of imagination with their captaincy.
It's been a general trait of all (South Africa) captains over the years, especially Smith. That's the way they play."
Warne was stripped of the Test vice-captaincy in 2000 after a phone sex scandal with a British nurse.
Smith said Australia's Steve Waugh, who retired in January 2004, was the type of captain who led from the front and told his players: 'Do it my way.'
"Ricky seems to be more of a nice team environment, with everyone contributing," Smith said. "Everyone is going to do it their way. Ricky is trying too hard to find his own way of captaining."
- SAPA