Wednesday, January 16, 2002 In the normal run of things, the appointment of a stand-in vice-captain would not be news. But Shane Warne's career has never had much to do with normality. It is not just news that Warne has been asked to deputise for Adam Gilchrist as Australia's vice-captain: it is good news.

Warne was the regular vice-captain - and an exceptional acting captain, winning 10 of his 11 games in charge - until he became the first cricketer ever to be sacked for making extra-marital phone-calls. The business with the Leicester nurse was certainly distasteful, but it was Warne's business, and his wife's, not Australia's. If complete marital fidelity was always expected of vice-captains, some international teams wouldn't be able to find one.

Today's announcement suggests that Warne has now served his time in the official wilderness. In practice, he never really stopped being Steve Waugh's right-hand man. When the going gets tough, especially in one-dayers, Waugh turns to Warne, who has one of the two most inventive tactical brains in the contemporary game, along with Brian Lara.

Curiously, neither of them is a current captain, but at least Lara has had a go. And Warne is back in contention now. Waugh is finally showing signs of being susceptible to the passing of time. Gilchrist already has two jobs, and, judging by Headingley 2001, has little of Warne's imagination; Ricky Ponting is in Warne's league when it comes to vices, but probably not when it comes to captaincy. The next captain of Australia should be Shane Warne. And he needn't necessarily wait till after the World Cup.

More From the Editor
Wicketkeeper turned gamekeeper
Lara rebranded

Tim de Lisle is editor of Wisden.com and former editor of Wisden Cricket Monthly magazine.

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd