Australia finally has its answer to agonising Steve Smith question

We’ve been waiting nearly four years for an answer to the Steve Smith question on everyone’s lips — now we finally have one.

Steve Smith gets his shot at redemption. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

This is why we can’t have nice things.

Australian cricket fans have long raved about Pat Cummins and the love-in went into overdrive when he replaced Tim Paine as Test captain after the Tasmanian stood down because of his sexting scandal.

Catch every moment of The Ashes live and ad-break free during play on Kayo. New to Kayo? Try 14-days free now.

The plaudits kept coming after Cummins led Australia to a comprehensive win in the first Ashes Test at the Gabba but a Covid-19 scare in Adelaide, where the fast bowler was identified as a close contact of a positive coronavirus case, means he’ll have to wait to walk out to another toss.

Cummins was ruled out of the second Test and Cricket Australia (CA) confirmed Steve Smith would replace him as skipper, with Travis Head his deputy.

Smith was appointed vice-captain last month and CA knew there would come a point when it would have to decide whether the New South Welshman was ready to take charge for the first time since he was banned for a year for his role in the ball tampering scandal in 2018.

However, nobody was anticipating that choice would come just one Test into Cummins’ captaincy reign.

Smith took over as Test skipper when Michael Clarke retired in 2015 and his run-scoring feats went to staggering new heights with the “C” next to his name. However, the 32-year-old’s position in sandpapergate led many to question whether he’d ever captain his country again — or deserved to, for that matter.

The star batter has said publicly he would be open to taking charge of the national team once again if given the opportunity, and there’s no doubt he has matured and learnt plenty since that fateful day in South Africa.

Some will say it’s too big a risk to turn back to the man in charge on Australian cricket’s darkest day, but the reality is, if not Smith, then who?

David Warner was banned from ever holding an official leadership position in Australian cricket after the ball tampering scandal and while Marnus Labuschagne has been touted by some — including Paine — as a future skipper, he isn’t mature enough for the role yet.

Alex Carey has also been earmarked as a potential leader but he has only played one Test after making his debut at the Gabba. The South Australian wicketkeeper may have experience wearing green and gold in the white ball formats, but Test cricket is a different beast.

Head was thrust into the South Australian captaincy at a young age and although his state has underperformed, he has plenty of first-class experience marshalling troops. However, he was dropped last summer and only played in Brisbane after winning a tight selection tussle with Usman Khawaja.

He will be Smith's vice-captain in Adelaide but there’s no way CA could have made Head captain when he’s still trying to establish himself as a full-time member of the first XI.

In short, Smith was the only option.

Is Steve Smith the right man for the job? (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)