Smith to captain Australia as he hunts 10,000 runs in Sri Lanka

Former Australia Test captain Steve Smith will lead the team for the first time since 2018 in the upcoming series against Sri Lanka, with Pat Cummins on paternity leave.

Smith was banned from captaining Australia for two years due to his involvement in the ball-tampering scandal, also being suspended from featuring for the team for a year.

He has since served as vice-captain and will now stand in for Cummins, who was already a doubt prior to taking paternity leave due to ankle soreness.

The series, which features two Tests and a one-off ODI – all at Galle – could see Smith reach a significant landmark.

The 35-year-old is currently on 9,999 Test runs. Only England's Joe Root (12,972) has scored more runs in men’s Tests since Smith made his Australia debut in July 2010.

His next red-ball run will make him just the 15th man to score 10,000, and the fourth from Australia after Steve Waugh (10,927), Allan Border (11,174) and Ricky Ponting (13,378).

Introducing our 16-player squad for our Qantas Men’s Tour of Sri Lanka #SLvAUS pic.twitter.com/BUWJHr5Zz4

— Cricket Australia (@CricketAus) January 9, 2025

All-rounder Cooper Connolly has received his first Test call-up for the series, while Nathan McSweeney retains his place after scoring 72 runs while opening in the first three Tests against India.

Smith had previously wanted to see Connolly called up for the India series, saying: "I was quite big on someone like Cooper coming in to be able to spin the ball away.

"You watch India play in India and they have Axar [Patel] and [Ravindra] Jadeja, if one of their spinners gets tired or nothing's happening, they can turn to another spinner. I like the fit, just having a couple of spinners going each way."

Mitchell Marsh has been omitted after struggling against India with Beau Webster in, while Josh Hazlewood is also absent as he recovers from a calf injury.

The first Test begins on January 29, with the second opening on February 6 and the one-dayer taking place on February 13.

Australia squad: Steve Smith (c), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Matthew Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Nathan McSweeney, Todd Murphy, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster.