Ponting warns Smith to avoid burn-out

Australia

Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has warned Steve Smith, who is now skipper in all three formats, not to get burned out from constant captaincy and the demands of batting in the top order.

Smith was named the T20 skipper ahead of the World Twenty20, replacing Aaron Finch, adding to his Test and ODI leadership duties. Ponting, who was in the same position for a long time, warned that it will be draining.

Ponting told Melbourne radio station SEN: "The thing that might start taking its toll on Steve Smith is just how constant that role is now for him.

"He’s only new into the Test captaincy really.

"Now he’s captain of all three formats. I think it will catch up with him pretty quickly. It did with me, anyway."

Punter added that he'd been surprised about Finch's demotion, pondering that it might be to do with his hamstring injury, which he is busy recovering from.

He said: "I'm a little bit surprised that Finch is not captain. I'm not sure if his injury is worse than we think.

"He did the same (injury) with (the Mumbai Indians) in the IPL last year."

Former wicketkeeper Ian Healy had faith that Smith would cope with the roles, saying on the CA website: "He's very capable of handling it and I think the team needs it right now.

"The T20 leadership is not a big thing outside of this year.

"This year with the World T20 there (are more matches) but Smithy will have the energy to get through that and I think, at the moment, the team will like that."

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