Clarke, Slater weigh in on Smith exit

Former Australia captain Michael Clarke says if current skipper Steve Smith needed a break from touring, he should have done so following the recent Test series in Sri Lanka instead of partway through the current One-Day International series.

Smith will head home to Australia today and miss the final three ODIs and the two Twenty20 Internationals to follow against Sri Lanka over the coming weeks.

Quick Single: Smith - 'I hate missing cricket but this will do me good'

The 27-year-old sighted the need 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.

Clarke, who knows better than most the strain of captaincy and constant touring, empathised with his contemporary's need for some time off.

But says he should have taken a break before the first two ODIs in Colombo and not during a series.

"I would of liked to have seen the captain play until the series was won and then have a rest," Clarke posted on Twitter.

"In the same breath if Smithy needed a break then he should have flown home after the Test matches not 2x ODIs in."

Clarke was responding to a post from former Australia opener Michael Slater, who had criticised the decision to send Smith home.

Smith joins allrounder Mitchell Marsh in returning home from Sri Lanka earlier than expected after the allrounder was excused from the limited-overs matches in order to freshen up for the coming months.

Speaking following Australia's 82-run defeat in Colombo, Smith said he took quite some convincing to leave his captaincy post midway through a hard-fought series, but the sheer volume of international cricket ahead ultimately convinced him – via the national selection panel – that it was in his and Australian cricket's best long-term interests to have a spell.

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Discussions about the need to find a suitable window within the packed schedule over coming months were initially held between Smith and selectors Rod Marsh (chair) and Darren Lehmann (coach) prior to the Test series starting in Sri Lanka a month ago.

However, the decision for him to return to Australia and for his vice-captain David Warner to take over the leadership for the remaining three ODIs and the pair of T20 Internationals only became the subject of mutual agreement in the days after Australia's first international win of the tour.

In the opening ODI at Premadasa Stadium last Sunday.

"We spoke about it at the start of the Test series," Smith said.

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"We had a few discussions, myself, Darren and Rod who also consulted with the other selectors (Mark Waugh and Trevor Hohns) and it took me a bit of convincing to get me over the line.

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

"Obviously with South Africa the next series (of ODIs in South Africa next month) and a big summer with six Test matches (against South Africa and Pakistan in Australia) and a few one-dayers against New Zealand in between before we go to India (for four Tests next February and March).

"So it was talked about, to try and give me a little break at some point.

"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 today 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."