Will have honest conversations with Steve Smith regarding captaincy, reveals Justin Langer

After the Cape Town ball-tampering scandal that rocked Australian cricket and brought shame and disgrace to the country's reputation, Cricket Australia (CA) came down harsh on the trio of Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft. While the former two were handed one-year bans from international cricket, the latter, who was still a rookie, was handed a nine-month ban. In addition to this, Smith was handed a two-year ban from captaincy, while Warner was handed a lifelong ban from any sort of leadership role for the national team. 

However, with Smith already carrying the Aussie batting on his shoulders, Langer is unsure if he would want to return to captaincy, given how tedious it would turn out to be. 

Having taken over the captaincy reins post the sandpaper gate, Tim Paine has done a commendable job and in fact, last month, became the first Australian since Steve Waugh in 2001 to regain the Ashes on English soil. Langer lauded Paine's captaincy but refused to comment on how long he will continue in the team.

"Tim Paine is doing a brilliant job at the moment as well. He's been outstanding in his time as captain, so however long he wants to keep playing for is another thing. The beautiful thing about Tim Paine is that he knows he can get better. He can keep getting better, he will keep learning, and with his youthful enthusiasm, even as a senior player, he's got lots of areas he can improve — that's heartening for him and that's heartening for us. But for the moment, he's definitely doing a great job," Langer said of the incumbent Test skipper.

“He had a poor series against England, no doubt. That’s just a fact, and he knows that. But he also hasn’t lost his talent, because he was the highest run-scorer in the World Cup two weeks before the Ashes started, and he was the highest run scorer in the IPL (Indian Premier League) before that. So he can bat. The other thing about David Warner, my experience tells me that you never write off champion players. And he’s a champion player," Langer signed off.