"No captaincy position available" - Australia coach Justin Langer after Steve Smith's comments

Australia head coach Justin Langer doesn't believe there is an opening for Steve Smith to take up the captain's role for the national team. The coach's comments come after the 31-year-old former skipper expressed his interest in taking up the responsibility of leading Australia once again.

After Steve Smith's suspension, due to his role in the infamous ball-tampering saga in 2018, Cricket Australia (CA) appointed Tim Paine as Test skipper and Aaron Finch as captain for the limited-overs formats.

Justin Langer believes that both Paine and Finch have done a commendable job and feels that Australia are in safe hands under the duo.

"We have two very good captains and two important competitions coming up -- an Ashes and a T20 World Cup. Our future looks good," Langer told the ABC, as reported by Fox Sports.

Since Steve Smith's ban in March 2018, Tim Paine has led Australia in 23 Tests, winning 11 and losing 8 games. Aaron Finch has won 23 ODIs (out of 39 games) and 18 T20Is (out of 35) in the same period.

"Despite the media chatter there is no captaincy position available," Justin Langer added.

"Certainly something I'd be interested in now" - Steve Smith

Apart from his one-year ban from all forms of cricket, Steve Smith was slapped with a two-year captaincy ban back in 2018. Just over three years have passed since the incident, and Steve Smith recently spoke about his eagerness to lead the national team again.

"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," Steve 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 now, that's for sure," he added.

‘I would be keen’: Smith says he’s ready to captain Australia👉 https://t.co/dLCveMWxLC pic.twitter.com/XVR2e5uRO5

— Fox Cricket (@FoxCricket) March 29, 2021

Steve Smith also mentioned that he wouldn't mind playing under Tim Paine and Aaron Finch.

"Time keeps moving forward, and 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 and I'd support whoever is in charge the same way I've supported Tim and Finchy. I haven't always felt like I wanted to do it again. That's only come in the last little bit," he concluded.

Steve Smith won 18 out of the 34 Test matches in which he led Australia. He has a good record in the 50-over format and has won 25 out of 51 games. Steve Smith captained Australia in only 4 matches in the shortest format and was on the right side of the result in all four instances.