Former England captain Michael Atherton has questioned Steven Smith’s leadership skills and England’s team selection, especially Jack Leach’s ouster, ahead of the second Ashes Test at the Adelaide Oval. Smith had to take over the captaincy after the regular skipper Pat Cummins had to withdraw because of a Covid-19 scare.

Smith had taken over from Michael Clarke in 2015 as Australia’s Test captain and served in the role until 2018 when he was ousted after the sandpapergate scandal in South Africa. After serving a leadership ban, Smith returned as the vice-captain to Cummins when Tim Paine stepped down due to a text scandal.