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Steve Smith will be free to captain Australia again at the end of March but a return to national leadership remains a long way off his radar.
Steve Smith's captaincy ban is close to expiring but while he is excited to be taking on key roles in global Twenty20 competitions, a return to national leadership remains a long way off his radar.
Smith will be free to captain Australia again at the end of March after the two-year anniversary of the 'sandpapergate' ball-tampering saga passes.
There is no reason to suggest a leadership change is likely any time soon with Test skipper Tim Paine and his white-ball counterpart Aaron Finch both performing well.
The 35-year-old Paine is thought to be keen to lead Australia to the inaugural world Test championship final at Lord's midway through next year.
Finch, 33, has back-to-back T20 World Cups ahead in Australia later this year and India in 2021, with the next 50-over World Cup due in 2023.
Smith took over as captain of the Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League midway through last season and has assumed the role permanently for the upcoming campaign.
He will also lead the Welsh Fire in the inaugural season of the UK's new The Hundred competition later in the year.
But after top-scoring with 76 for Australia in their ODI defeat to South Africa in Paarl last weekend, Smith downplayed the prospect of returning to the national captaincy.
"I'm pretty chilled to be honest," he said. "I'm just enjoying playing and being amongst the boys. It's been really good.
"The guys are doing a terrific job, Finchy and Painey. I'll support them any way I can and help the team have success and hopefully score some more runs and do my job that way."
Former Australia skipper Michael Clarke suggested Smith might be best served mentoring a younger captain such as Pat Cummins in the future.
"I think there's probably a great opportunity, if Steve is offered that chance (to return as captain), to actually decline it because of those reasons," Clarke said on Big Sports Breakfast.
"Yes, he's our best player, but he can be a captain without that 'C' beside his name."
Smith has managed to get plenty of short-form cricket under his belt in recent times, having tuned up for Australia's T20 series victory in South Africa with a stint playing for the Sydney Sixers in their run to a second Big Bash title.
While he loved his brief return to the BBL, he is unsure it would be viable to give the country's top players a greater window to play in the league.
"It's extremely tough with the schedules of international cricket finding time for international players to play in the Big Bash," he said.
"It'd be fantastic if there was a window there where Australia players could play more of it."
Australia's squad will be looking to balance the ledger when they face the Proteas in Bloemfontein in the second ODI on Wednesday.
The third and final game will be played in Potchefstroom on Saturday.
"We were a bit sloppy in all aspects of the game," Smith said of Australia's 78-run defeat in Paarl.
"We're going to have to turn things around quickly to get ourselves back in the series."
