Australia name Travis Head and Pat Cummins as new vice-captains

The pair have been appointed to their new roles in place of Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Marsh

Australia have appointed two new vice-captains for the upcoming Test series against Sri Lanka.

Batsman Travis Head and bowling allrounder Pat Cummins will assist skipper Tim Paine during the two matches, the first of which is due to begin in Brisbane on Wednesday.

The pair have been appointed to their new roles in place of Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Marsh.

Hazlewood has suffered a stress fracture to his back and is out of action for the whole series, while Marsh's poor form has seen him dropped from the squad.

"It is a fitting reward for their professionalism and dedication to drive the elite standards of the Australian men's Test team," Australian selector Trevor Hohns said.

^{Australia's players line up for a team photo in Brisbane}

"Travis is an experienced state captain who has had a reasonable amount of success with South Australia and the Adelaide Strikers in the BBL.

"Pat is a fine young man who displays strong leadership through his actions on and off the cricket field."

Cummins recently said he did not covet the captaincy of his country, while Head has only played in six Tests.

The two men are the latest in a long line of players to have held positions of responsibility during Australia's period of transition post ball-tampering scandal.

In the past nine months, Steve Smith, David Warner, Alex Carey, Tim Paine, Aaron Finch, Marsh and Hazlewood have also been Australia captain or vice-captain in red or white-ball cricket.

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