Former Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne says now is the right time to replace Tim Payne as Test captain and Blood Josh Inglis as the team's next wicketkeeper.Payne resigned Friday after media reports surfaced that sexually explicit text messages sent to a female ex-colleague four years ago had been cleared.
Cummins, a 28-year-old co-captain, has taken 164 wickets in 32 Tests for Australia since his debut in 2011.
Warne wrote in the Australian Daily Telegraph on Sunday: "For me, this is the right time to captain Pat Cummins, as I thought before Friday's incident."
"The poster boy, respected and beloved around the world, Pat Cummins should now be the captain and Matt Wade, Josh Inglis or Alex Carey should be given the opportunity to play the role of Penn in the Test squad.
"England got my vote. He has a silky smooth hand behind the stumps, a 360 degree player with the bat and three first-class centuries last season for Western Australia. He is a great team man whom I saw first hand in London. Take it inside.
Warne, who has previously criticized Penn's captaincy, praised his 36-year-old leadership after he replaced Steve Smith following the 2018 ball-tampering scandal in South Africa.
Warne added: "We are sorry for what happened last Friday on many levels and in the circumstances that forced the team to resign.
"I'm not judging him in this case. Just because the team is in the public eye doesn't mean he won't be wrong. Athletes are people, they have feelings. Let's stop judging. This is not the place for us to do this."
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