Steve Smith says captaining Australia 'not on my radar'
Smith set to play first game for Australia on home soil since ball-tampering ban ended
Friday 25 October 2019 14:40, UK
Steve Smith says captaining Australia again is "not on my radar" as his ban from leading his country enters its final few months.
Smith's punishment for the ball-tampering affair in 2018 - for which he received a 12-month suspension - included not being allowed to captain the Baggy Greens until a year into his comeback.
That ban elapses in March, but the 30-year-old says he is not thinking about the role with Test skipper Tim Paine having guided his side to a 2-2 draw in the Ashes series in England and ODI captain Aaron Finch taking the team to the World Cup semi-finals.
"Not on my radar at all," Smith said of regaining the Australia captaincy. "Finchy and Painey are both doing terrific jobs, so I'm enjoying playing and pretty chilled."
Cricket Australia CEO Kevin Roberts said earlier this week that he did not envisage any change of captain in the near future, despite the fact Paine will turn 35 in December.
"It's important that we crawl before we walk and acknowledge that there's no one in Australian cricket other than Tim that could've led the Australian men's Test team the way he has over the last 18-plus months," Roberts told Australian radio station SEN.
"[He has led Australia] out of crisis [and] into a position of relative strength and improving all the time having retained the Ashes and hoping to win the upcoming series against Pakistan and New Zealand.
"Given Tim's outstanding leadership, what I would say at this point in time is we're not reviewing his position as captain.
"We're excited and grateful that we've got him as our leader for this coming season and we'll address the other matters with Steve when the time comes."
On Finch, who is set to skipper Australia at the T20 World Cup on home soil next November, Roberts added: "Aaron did a fantastic job of captaining the ODI team in the World Cup, and prior to that.
"The good news is we're feeling really good about the leaders that we have now."
Smith and David Warner will play their first home games for Australia since the ball-tampering scandal when their side meet Sri Lanka in the first of three Twenty20 internationals at Adelaide on Sunday.
Australia will then host Pakistan for three T20Is and two Tests before welcoming New Zealand for three Tests and three ODIs.
