Smith is currently serving a 12-month ban for his role in the ball-tampering incident during Australia’s recent tour to South Africa. His ban ends before the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, but he will not be able to take a leadership position with the team till at least March 2020.

Taylor, the former Australia captain and current Cricket Australia Director, however, backed Smith to take over captaincy duties at some point in the future again.

“I still think Steve Smith can captain Australia,” Taylor was quoted as saying by Nine Network’s Sports Sunday. “Steve Smith to me, and everyone wants to label people, is not a cheat. Steve Smith was guilty of negligence in my opinion. He saw something going on and he didn’t stamp it out. That’s a mistake of negligence.

He has also received support from Justin Langer, the new coach of Australia, who said that he would welcome back Smith as well as David Warner and Cameron Bancroft, the other suspended cricketers, into the national team if they “are willing to meet the standards of the Australian cricket team”.