Australia had to deal with the sudden departure of Tim Paine but with Pat Cummins, the captaincy is in very safe hands.
Cummins, like England captain Joe Root, comes from a lovely family and is a credit to his parents, Peter and Maria.
He was brought up the right way in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, and is a smart cookie who used his time wisely through serious injury problems by taking a degree in business and marketing.
New Australia captain Pat Cummins (left) was brought up well and is set to be a great captain
Cummins is the first ever fast bowler to be named as the full-time captain of the Australian side
That intelligence and stability after all that has happened to Australia will stand Cummins in good stead captaining his country.
It was clear from a very young age that Patty was a real talent as he made a rapid journey as a junior at my old club Penrith, played for New South Wales at 17 and then Australia at 18 — a first Test came in just his fourth first-class appearance.
Cummins always had that extra pace, not to mention batting ability that earned him a First Grade hundred. He actually holds a lot of junior batting records at Penrith where his two brothers also played.
Now Cummins has become the first fast bowler to be appointed full-time Australia captain and I'm confident he will not only be able to cope with the job, and everything that comes with it, but excel as a leader.
Cummins does not have too much captaincy experience, but then neither did Root when he took over from Alastair Cook.
The fast bowler has taken over from predecessor Tim Paine (left), who departed in disgrace
Where it has been different for Pat is that as soon as he was made Australia vice-captain last year and it became clear he was the favourite to succeed Paine one day, New South Wales immediately made him one-day captain. That will help now.
He is the type of guy who will grow into the captaincy the more he does it and he will have good support in the experience of Steve Smith as his vice-captain — and there should be no issues in Smith holding a leadership role again now — and senior pros like David Warner, who has a good tactical brain.
I am also sure Cummins is strong enough now to play in all five Tests, barring injury, but moving forward it will be interesting to see whether his appearances in one-day and
