Pat Cummins has been named the first fast bowler to captain Australia's Test cricket team on a full-time basis and former skipper Steve Smith returns from leadership wilderness to become the team's vice-captain. Cricket Australia made both announcements on Friday. Cummins, who had been vice-captain, replaces Tim Paine, who resigned last week over a sex-texting scandal four years ago.

The last fast bowler to lead Australia at test level was Ray Lindwall for a single match in 1956, and only as a stand-in. Cummins is Australia's 47th Test captain. Smith was fired from the captaincy after the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa in 2018. As well as losing the captaincy, he was banned from any leadership roles for two years.