Australia batsman Steve Smith says he “would be keen” to captain the national side again, if the opportunity arises.
Smith was stripped of the captaincy following the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa 2018 and served a year-long ban before returning to international cricket in 2019, producing a player of the series display as Australia retained the Urn during that summer’s Ashes series.
As part of Smith’s punishment, the 31-year-old was banned from holding any leadership role for two years, a suspension which has now expired.
Wicketkeeper Tim Paine inherited the captaincy from Smith and initially won praise for his leadership in the wake of “sandpapergate”.
However, the 36-year-old is now under pressure after a home series defeat to India in which his tactics were widely questioned. Paine was also forced to apologise after being picked up on the stump mic calling Ravi Ashwin “a d******d” during the Third Test draw at Sydney.
“I’ve certainly had a lot of time to think about it and I guess now I’ve got to a point where if the opportunity did come up again, I would be keen,” Smith told News Corp.
“If it was what Cricket Australia wanted and it was what was best for the team at the time, it’s certainly something I would be interested in.”
