Paine led Australia between 2018 and 2021 after Steve Smith was stripped of the captaincy in the wake of the "Sandpaper-gate" ball-tampering incident against South Africa.

Smith will stand in for Pat Cummins, who returned home after leading Australia in the first two Test matches to care for his ailing mother who died last week.

India also confirmed their place in the World Test Championship final against Australia in June following Sri Lanka's two-wicket loss to New Zealand in Christchurch earlier in the day

Smith led Australia between 2014 and 2018 before he was stripped off the honour following a ball-tampering scandal in South Africa

"If we are able to topple that mountain, that would be huge. I think if we can win in India, that would be bigger than an Ashes series," Australia batter Steve Smith said ahead of the first Test in Nagpur.

Australia batsman Steve Smith dampened down talk of his retirement on Friday after suggesting it was by no means certain that he would be still playing test cricket next season.

Australia, fuelled by hundreds from Travis Head and David Warner, crushed England by 221 runs in the third one day internationals to sweep the series in front of largely empty stands at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Tuesday.

A Steve Smith century helped give retiring Australia skipper Aaron Finch a winning send-off Sunday with a 25-run victory in the final one-day international against New Zealand at Cairns.

Australia's Steve Smith said Wednesday he found England's new attacking "Bazball" approach entertaining to watch, but questioned whether it was sustainable.

Australia have dropped top order batsman Usman Khawaja for the fourth Ashes test against England and recalled Steve Smith in their 12-man side after the former captain recovered from concussion.

Australia's Steve Smith was given the all-clear after being forced to retire hurt when he was struck by a short ball from England fast bowler Jofra Archer on the fourth day of the second Ashes test at Lord's on Saturday.

Those Australians who eschewed late nights in front of the television woke up on Tuesday to the news that their cricket team had achieved a thumping first Ashes test victory lauded as "A Win for the Ages" in local media.

Former Australian captain Steve Smith's Bangladesh Premier League stint with Comilla Victorians has officially come to an end. The

Comilla Victorians coach Mohammad Salahuddin informed that new captain Steve Smith was keeping everyone in their toes and made Tamim Iqbal run extra hard during their stay at the crease together.

Australian duo Steve Smith and David Warner both made their BPL debuts today. Both were given out after reviews which left a lot of room for doubt and worry about how the tournament will progress in regards to technology and umpiring decisions.

Australia’s former skipper could feature for BPL franchise Comilla Victorians after the tournament’s governing council decided that franchises will be allowed to include one player each in the lineup from outside the players’ draft.

Bangladesh’s BPL outfit Comilla Victorians signed Australia’s disgraced former skipper Steve Smith for the upcoming edition of the Bangladesh Premier League BPL), scheduled to start on January 6 next year, Victorians coach Mohammad Salahuddin confirmed to The Daily Star today.

Australian cricketer Steve Smith is still officially the world’s top Test batsman though he has been serving a ban from top-level cricket for four months after being embroiled in a ball-tampering incident.

Retired cricket Test captain Michael Clarke offers to play for Australia for free to help the team recover after the downfall of his successor Steve Smith over a ball-tampering scandal in South Africa.

​Bans handed to Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft should be reduced, the Australian cricketers' union says, arguing the punishment was disproportionate to previous ball-tampering cases.