Smith signs on for Barbados in CPL

Steve Smith will play in the Caribbean Premier League this year as the former Test captain continues to ply his trade overseas while serving a 12-month ban.

Smith has joined the Barbados Tridents in the CPL in a squad that currently features New Zealand opener Martin Guptill and South Africa star Hashim Amla, and is captained by West Indies allrounder Jason Holder. Smith replaces Bangladesh allrounder Shakib al Hasan.

The CPL tournament runs from August 8 to September 16, and will also feature fellow banned Australia batsman David Warner, who will play with St Lucia Stars.

Warner took the spot of Australia T20 batsman D'Arcy Short after he was selected in the Australia A one-day squad that will play a quadrangular series in India next month.

Smith's Barbados side will meet Warner's St Lucia team on August 17 and September 2.

Other Australians in this year's CPL include Chris Lynn (Trinbago Knight Riders) and Ben Cutting and Tom Cooper (St Kitts & Nevis Patriots).

Smith’s latest playing role comes as the ICC confirmed he was still the world's No.1 ranked Test batsman in the governing body's latest update.

Smith still sits atop the table ahead of India's Virat Kohli, Joe Root from England, New Zealand's Kane Williamson and then Warner on the rankings which were updated following the conclusion of the Sri Lanka-South Africa series.

The ICC uses a points system to determine the rankings, so Smith's form prior to the Cape Town scandal lifted him to 929 points, with Kohli on 903 and Root sitting on 855.

Smith and Warner were banned from international, state and Big Bash cricket for their roles in Australia's ball-tampering scandal during the Cape Town Test in March.

The CA-imposed sanctions do not preclude them from playing in overseas leagues, nor lower-level cricket, and both Smith and Warner are expected to turn out for their NSW Premier Cricket club sides following the CPL.

The duo returned to the field, on different teams, in Canada's inaugural Global T20 tournament earlier this month, where Smith hit 167 runs in six games, with two fifties.

Warner played his first matches on Australian soil last weekend in Darwin's NT Strike League, playing two games for the City Cyclones franchise and hitting 93 in his second knock.

Warner's efforts helped the club qualify for the Strike League final on July 29. While Warner will be absent for that match, if they win the club will qualify for the new national Premier T20 competition to be held in Adelaide next March, which the suspended batsman has committed to playing in.

The pair have been ruled out of featuring in this year's BBL competition, and other overseas avenues open to them include the T10 league in Dubai in early December, the Bangladesh Premier League in January and the Pakistan Super League in February.