Smith can captain Australia again
A two-year leadership ban slapped on Steve Smith after the ball-tampering scandal in SA ended on Sunday, leaving the master batsman free to skipper Australia again.
The 30-year-old captained the team until he was suspended for 12 months for a brazen attempt to alter the ball with sandpaper on his watch during a Test in Cape Town in 2018.
Part of his punishment included a further year-long exile from any leadership role, This has now expired. Co-conspirator and former vice-captain David Warner was banned from any leadership role for life.
There have been calls for Smith to take back the Test captaincy from Tim Paine, but it remains unclear whether he wants to, with the 35-year-old seemingly intent on playing on.
In 2019, coach Justin Langer praised Paine’s leadership as “brilliant”, and said Smith may not want the “burden” of captaincy on top of batting pressures. Aaron Finch is skipper of the Twenty20 and oneday teams.
Smith said on Channel Nine television on Sunday that he was focused only on trying to stay physically and mentally fit during the coronavirus shutdown of Australian cricket.
He was meant to be preparing for a big-money payday at the Indian Premier League (IPL), but the tournament has already been delayed until April 15 in response to the pandemic.
With India in a three-week lockdown, Smith admitted the IPL appeared unlikely to go ahead. “I think the country’s basically shut its borders until April 15,” he said. “It’s not looking likely at the moment. I think there might be some meetings over the next couple of days to discuss what the go is with it all.
“But just trying to stay physically fit and mentally fresh,” he said. “If it goes ahead at some point, then great. If not, then there’s plenty going on in the world at the moment.”
All cricket in Australia has been cancelled, with the team’s three-match T20 series against New Zealand in March a casualty after just one game.
Australia has a Test tour to Bangladesh scheduled for June and a subsequent one-day campaign in England, but both appear to be at risk. /