STEVE Smith says he is “chilled” about the Australia captaincy after Josh Hazlewood stepped in for Pat Cummins for the second one-day international.
Smith’s classy 94 against England helped Australia complete a 2-0 series win, with Cummins rested in Sydney.
The batter was relieved of the captaincy after the ball-tampering scandal against South Africa in 2018.
“I’m not sure if there was a conversation. I just do what I’m told,” Smith said.
“I was vice-captain for this game, and helped out where I could. They’re looking to build some new leaders, some younger leaders. I’m pretty chilled, I’ll just do my thing.”
Smith captained the Test side against England at Adelaide during the 2021 Ashes series, when Cummins missed out because he was deemed a close contact of someone with COVID-19.
Questions over whether he will lead the side again remain because of the controversy, with suggestions that going back to Smith would be a step back for Australia, but former bowler Stuart Clark says he is now more suited to playing solely as a batter.
“If they want him to be captain, he will, and if they don’t, he won’t.
“He is happy to help out when he can, but he doesn’t have those ambitions to be charging in with it any more,” said Clark.
“He has got a bit older, he’s married, and he’s probably closer to the end of his career than the start. He’s still got a long way to go as far as cricket goes, but he was captain for a long time.”
There have also been ominous signs for England and other nations regarding Smith’s form during the series, as he has scored 174 runs across two innings and has only been dismissed once.
He described himself as a “work in progress” over the past year, having batted well without quite reaching the giddy heights of the 2017-18 winter, when he scored 687 runs during Australia’s crushing of England – before missing a year of international cricket because of the ball-tampering.
“It’s my movement, my hands, the time I feel like I’ve got and just where I’m hitting the ball. I feel like I’m in a good place,” said Smith.
It is a statement that will delight Australia fans before the Test series against West Indies and South Africa, followed by the Ashes in the UK next summer.
“He held Australia together today and that’s what we know him for,” said Clark.
“He is starting to look like the 2018 Ashes version of himself again. He’s changed his technique, his feet, his hands. It just looks easy for him now.”
(BBC Sport)
