Follow the leader: Paine wants to build captaincy depth

Tim Paine has endorsed Steve Smith to captain Australia again - only if he wants to do it - but stressed that creating a pool of potential captains remains the team's priority in its succession planning.

Smith captained Australia's Test side before Paine but was slapped with a two-year leadership ban over his part in the ball tampering scandal during a Test in Cape Town in 2018.

The ban expired this week, prompting renewed speculation that Smith could soon resume the leadership duties.

While 35-year-old Paine has acknowledged he is in the twilight of his career, the wicketkeeper said he is not yet ready to walk away from the game.

He's refused to publicly lay out a timetable for his departure, particularly with the uncertainty created by the COVID-19 shutdown, saying only that coach Justin Langer and selectors knew of his plans.

"I know what I'm thinking, in terms of how far I can play on and we're on the same page," he said.

"I've said a number of times, I'm taking it series by series. That's something I've been doing since I came back into the side as a wicketkeeper (and) that won't change now that I'm captain.

"I'm not setting huge goals too far ahead. Our team has got some goals. One of those is the ICC Test Championship final and winning that, and at the moment I haven't looked any further than that."

Paine  has not spoken with Smith about the captaincy, but said the 30-year-old batsman would not be the only candidate for the role.

"I know it's a really big thing for JL (Langer) and (CA CEO) Kevin Roberts is that we're developing a number of people," he said.

"(If) the role does open up, whether it's the Test role or when Aaron Finch decides he's had enough, (we want to have) a number of guys we can choose from.

"At the moment, it might be Steve Smith who has done it before or one of the guys developing underneath like Travis Head, Alex Carey, Marnus Labuschagne, Pat Cummins is another one.

"We're starting to build some real depth … (and) we want to make sure when my time is up, we’ve got a number of options.

"If Steve Smith decides that's the way he wants to go, I would fully support him in trying to do it again."