‘It’ll hit me only when I go out for toss’

Pat Cummins is focused on doing justice to his appointment as Australia's new Test captain and believes limited-overs leadership would be "too much" for him, the 28-year-old said on Saturday.

Cummins is the first Australia paceman to lead the team in 65 years after Tim Paine stood down earlier this month following a "sexting" scandal.

Cummins, who has insisted he does not want to miss Test cricket, said he has been flooded with messages since landing the Test captain's role but the feeling had not sunk in yet.

"Probably not fully," he said after a practice session on the Gold Coast.

"I think until I walk out at the Gabba and see a big home crowd, pull on the Baggy Green (cap) and go out for the toss – that's when it'll probably hit me. It's a bit of a weird feeling."

Former fast bowler Geoff Lawson has hailed Pat Cummins' appointment as Australia's captain after the 28-year-old was named Tim Paine's replacement.

Cummins is Australia's 47th captain and the first fast bowler to lead the team in 65 years, prompting Lawson to celebrate the New South Welshman's promotion to the top job ahead of the upcoming Ashes series against England.

"The stranglehold has been broken, the envelope pushed and the pace ceiling smashed," Lawson, who played 46 tests for Australia, wrote in his column in the Sydney Morning Herald.

"A cricketer, whose main skill...is to bowl fast, has been granted the office of national captain.

"Cricket realists all over the continent are sighing with relief after turning blue from holding their breath since...Tim Paine resigned."

Limited-over skipper Aaron Finch led Australia to their maiden Twenty20 World Cup title earlier this month, and Cummins reckoned split-captaincy suited them.

"It's probably too early to say, mainly because I start this role and see where we go," Cummins was quoted as saying by the Australian Associated Press.

"My gut feeling and preference at the moment is to have separate captains. "I think it's too much to ask, certainly of me. I'd love to just concentrate on Test cricket.

"Aaron's doing a fantastic job," Cummins said, saying it was best to have "someone who can take the white-ball squad teams to make it their own, take it in their own direction".