Sydney: Steve Smith has said he is interested in becoming Australia captain once again if the opportunity comes. He said that he has learnt to live with the damage caused to his career by the 2018 ball-tampering scandal. Steve Smith had to serve a one-year ban due to the ball-tampering scandal. However, the 31-year-old cricketer has said that he has put all that behind him.
“I’ve certainly had a lot of time to think about it. I guess now I’ve got to a point where if the opportunity (captaincy) did come up again I would be keen,” Smith told ‘News Corp’.
The ball-tampering scandal led to a review of the team’s win-at-all-cost approach to the game. Smith returned to help Australia win the Ashes in 2019 after his ban ended. However, he has resolutely avoided the subject of captaincy.
“If it was what Cricket Australia (CA) wanted and it was what was best for the team, it’s certainly something I would be interested. That’s for sure,” Smith added.
Smith acknowledged that the scandal will forever be attached to his name. However, he will not let that get in the way of assuming leadership again. “I’m always going to have to live with Cape Town regardless of whether I lead again or not. It’s always there,” he said.
“I’ve been through all that now. Time keeps moving forward. I’ve learnt so much the last few years about myself and grown as a human being. I feel as though I’d be in a better place if the opportunity did come up. If it doesn’t, that’s fine as well. I’d support whoever is in charge the same way I’ve supported (Test captain) Tim (Paine) and Finchy (ODI captain Aaron Finch),” Smith said.
Paine has been under fire ever since Australia lost a high-stakes Test series to an injury-plagued India earlier this year. Finch, on the other hand, has turned 34.