Proteas greats chime in on Smith's break

Two of South Africa's greatest ever cricketers have weighed in on Cricket Australia's decision to rest Steve Smith from the three remaining one-day internationals in Sri Lanka.

Former captain Graeme Smith tweeted his shock, but it is the mocking joke from fast bowler Dale Steyn that will raise eyebrows. Particularly as Steyn is still a part of the current South Africa playing XI and likely to feature against the Australians if not in next month's one-day series hosted by the Proteas, but almost certainly in the three-Test series to be played in Australia this summer.

The Australia captain, who was initially reluctant to take a break, has now returned to Sydney after encouragement from CA's National Selection Panel. He will miss the final three ODIs and the two Twenty20 Internationals to follow against Sri Lanka over the coming weeks.

Quick Single: Lehmann explains Smith rest decision

Australia head coach Darren Lehmann cited the need for the 27-year-old Smith to refresh ahead of a gruelling home summer, which will be bookended by tours of South Africa, New Zealand and India before the ICC Champions Trophy gets underway in the UK next June.

The former South Africa captain tweeted he could not imagine the Australia captains he faced in his 12-year, 117-Test career (109 of them as captain) agreeing to being rested midway through a series.

Smith captained in 19 Tests against Australia, facing teams led by Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke, and lost 11 of them, winning five with three draws.

Former England Test batsman Owais Shah, who played six Tests between 2006 and 2009, replied to Smith's tweet to claim "times have changed" and "the Aussies are getting soft".

Ponting has remained silent on the issue, but Clarke did tweet his own views in the wake of Smith's rest period being announced, suggesting that if a break was needed from touring, it should have been before the one-day series started instead of midway through it.

Clarke, who would know as only an Australian captain could the strain of captaincy and constant touring, empathised with his contemporary's need for some time off.

While Smith and Clarke have their views shaped by their own experiences as leaders of their respective nations, Steyn jumped on a teammate's tweet to make a joke.

When South Africa's limited-overs specialist allrounder Farhaan Behardien tweeted his satisfaction at spending a night at home, Steyn was quick to jump on with an apparently mocking jibe "Steve Smith agrees".

Steyn's reaction could add some edge to the one-day series in South Africa next month, although the 33-year-old was dropped from South Africa's one-day team that finished last in the Caribbean tri-series behind Australia and the West Indies earlier this winter.

While selection for that series is no guarantee, Steyn would be expecting to lead South Africa's new ball attack when the Proteas arrive for a three-Test tour taking in Perth, Hobart and a day-night match in Adelaide starting in November.

Lehmann defended the decision to rest Smith from the remainder of the Sri Lanka tour, and said the captain was initially resistant to the idea.

"We planned that for a long time and he (Smith) took some convincing, there's no doubt about that," Lehmann said in Colombo this week.

"But as a coach and a selection panel we're making sure he's fresh and ready to go each and every time he plays for Australia.

"We just wanted to make sure that he's fresh and ready to go for South Africa and then the big summer ahead.

"It was well planned and well thought out, and that's what we're doing."

Smith said he would use the break to think on how Australia could improve on their disappointing Test match record in the subcontinent.

"I hate missing cricket but I think in the long run having a bit of a break will do me the world of good," Smith said.

"I've been doing a lot of thinking over the last week or so since the last Test match, I thought we turned things around well in the first one-day match (last Sunday) but (defeat in the second ODI) was disappointing again.

"So we have a lot of work to do in the subcontinent and I'm sure I'll think a lot more over the next couple of weeks while I'm at home as well."

David Warner leads Australia for the first time in tomorrow’s third ODI against Sri Lanka in Dambulla, while the first match of Australia's Qantas Tour of South Africa is on September 30 at Centurion.