Coach cautions calls for Smith captaincy

The issue of burnout will be top of mind for the national selection panel if the time comes for making a call on Steve Smith's return to the Australia captaincy, says head coach Justin Langer.

While Langer endorsed the quality and performances of incumbent skipper Tim Paine, who became the first Australia skipper to retain the Ashes in England since 2001, he also acknowledged the issue of Smith potentially returning to the top job given the unknown longevity of Paine's career.

The Tasmanian posted just his second first-class hundred against Western Australia on Saturday but will be 35 in December, and with the taxing dual role of wicketkeeper and batsman, it remains to be seen how long he is willing to stay in the Test hot seat.

"Tim Paine is doing a brilliant job at the moment, he's been outstanding in his time as captain," Langer told ABC Grandstand.

"However he long he wants to keep playing for, that's another thing (to consider). I'm sure, like all these things, it'll get worked out when the timing's right.

"The beauty of Tim Paine is he will keep getting better. Even at his age, with his youthful enthusiasm, he's got lots of areas he can improve, and that's heartening for him and for us. At the moment he's doing a great job."

Smith on the other hand was last week named in Australia's T20 squad and is set to play his first match in that format for his country since March 2016 later this month against Sri Lanka, as selectors begin to more sharply consider their best XI in the shortest version of the game with a view to next October's ICC T20 World Cup, to be held in Australia.

Chief selector Trevor Hohns was adamant the No.3 position in that team is Smith's to lose, meaning the 30-year-old is now considered a permanent and pivotal fixture in all three formats for Australia.

Given the jam-packed nature of the international calendar, the issue of burnout – more commonly associated with fast bowlers – becomes a very real one for Smith, who last week admitted his "body had basically shut down" in the final Test of the Ashes after spending so much time in the middle during his record-breaking series.

The notion of then adding the captaincy to Smith's workload would be something that would require serious consideration, Langer explained.

"It'll come down to honest conversations," he said. "We have to work out what's best.

"I mean you saw how exhausted he was (at the end of the Ashes) from the effort he puts into his batting.

"Whether he wants the burden of captaincy as well, that'll have to be something we work out over time."

Langer was more certain, however, about the way in which Smith would be welcomed by the Australian crowd this summer, after he, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft were condemned by so many following the ball-tampering controversy of March 2018.

"Some of the abuse he copped early in the summer – him and Davey Warner – I'd never seen anything like it," he said.

"But he walked off in his last (Ashes) innings at The Oval and he got a standing ovation from large sections of the crowd, and for me to see how he had turned the sentiment around from what it was when we first arrived for the World Cup, to the end where he gets a standing ovation for his genius as a batsman, for his good nature, for the way he behaved himself off the field, for just his quirkiness.

"If the English public can turn that around, I'm sure the Australian public are going to love to see him moving forward.

"He's a brilliant player. He's a great example of the best way to get rid of all these distractions is to concentrate on what's important – and he just concentrates on batting. He just loves batting. I'm blown away by how much he loves batting."