Australia’s Smith bides time for another crack at captaincy

Steve Smith admitted Thursday that “discussions” had taken place about his return to captain the Australian team, but said he was happy with the current set-up.

The 31-year-old skippered the national side until he was banned for 12 months over a ball-tampering scandal in South Africa in 2018.

Part of his punishment included a further year-long exile from any leadership role, which expired in March.

Currently, Tim Paine captains the Test team and Aaron Finch the limited-overs sides.

The issue was thrust back into the spotlight when Finch was ruled out of the second Twenty20 against India last weekend, with speculation rampant that Smith would stand in. In the end, Matthew Wade got the nod.

“There were discussions taking place. I think JL (coach Justin Langer) answered the question when asked about me and captaincy,” Smith said from Adelaide, where he is preparing for the first Test against India next week.

“For me, I just said I am happy to do whatever is best for the team and that’s the same going forward. I do whatever I can for the team.

“Right now, I think Tim and Finchy are doing really good jobs in both formats of the game,” he added.

“I’m comfortable with where I’m at right now, but as I’ve always said I will do what is best for the team.”

Langer told reporters this week there was “a bit of a process” to go through before Smith could captain again, without going into details.

Smith said he wasn’t sure what that entailed.

“I think whenever there is a captain chosen, you go through a process, you go through the board and things like that, and other people are spoken to,” he said.

“I’m sure it won’t be too dissimilar, but I’m not really sure. That’s all that has been said to me, and we will let it rest for now.

“The guys at the moment are doing really good jobs, and I’m really comfortable where everything is at.”

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