Steve Smith, David Warner To Play Leadership Roles Within The World Cup Squad, Says Justin Langer

Steve Smith and David Warner will be playing under the captaincy of Aaron Finch in the World Cup 2019 after making a comeback in the side following the ball-tampering scandal. In anticipation of the quadrennial, Australia held their first training camp in Brisbane on Friday, which Smith missed out due to a virus while Warner only walked laps around the ground. In the meantime, the rest of the players underwent training under the watchful eyes of coach Justin Langer, who believes Smith and Warner are "natural leaders" and they will be very much playing leadership roles within the World Cup squad.

"I've always talked about leadership - whether it's titled or untitled - we expect all our players to be leaders," Langer was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au.

"They're both natural leaders ... so we'll draw on their experience on and off the field, and we'd be absolutely crazy not to," Langer added.

Smith, who led Australia in 51 One-day Internationals (ODIs) can still be named as Australia's captain after he completes a two-year leadership ban.

But Warner can never be considered for the captaincy role, according to the ban.

Australia will play two warm-up matches against hosts England and Sri Lanka respectively.

The defending champions will face minnows Afghanistan in their inaugural World Cup match and will clash with heavyweights India on June 6.

Topics mentioned in this article

Australia Cricket Team Steven Smith David Warner World Cup 2019 Cricket