FRIDAY:
Cricket Australia formally appointed Sutherland Cricket Club batsman Steve Smith as the new Australian Test captain on Friday.
Smith, 26, and the number 3 batsman is the current Australian vice-captain and captain of the one day and Twenty20 teams.
Michael Clarke will play his final test at The Oval in London, starting on August 20 against England.
England has regained the Ashes and lead the five match series, 3-1.
Clarke made his shock decision to retire from test cricket on the third morning of the fourth Test at Trent Bridge.
Cricket Australia met on Friday in Melbourne with the board approving Smith to replace Clarke.
Smith will begin his tenure for Australia's tour of Bangaladesh in October.
Australian chairman of selectors Rod Marsh said Smith gained vital experience last summer as deputy for Clarke in the Tests when the 114 Test match veteran was injured.
Smith has played 32 Tests.
David Warner is the new vice-captain.
Marsh said Smith was groomed for the role and with Clarke retiring he was the natural successor.
'' We had a clear succession plan in place for the captaincy with Steve Smith gaining valuable experience leading the Test team while
Michael Clarke was recovering from injury last season," Marsh said.
THURSDAY:
SUTHERLAND batsman Steven Smith is expected to be officially appointed as Australia’s 45th Test captain on Friday.
A Cricket Australia board meeting in Melbourne is likely to anoint Smith as Michael Clarke’s successor after Clarke announced his retirement from international cricket following Australia’s humiliating Ashes series defeat to England in the fourth Test at Trent Bridge, Nottingham.
Smith will lead Australia in a three-day tour match against Northamptonshire that starts on Friday ahead of the final Test of the series at The Oval in London.
Smith’s first Test in full-time control of the team will come against Bangladesh in early October followed by home series against New Zealand and the West Indies.
The 26-year-old took the reigns briefly last summer in a three-Test series against India where he scored a century in each match.
Smith told Fairfax Media it could be a vastly different looking Australian team from the one so badly beaten in England.
‘‘I’m not sure what the squad’s going to look like come Bangladesh ... it’s completely different conditions, there could be some different guys on that tour to what there is here,’’ he said.
‘‘I just think it’s really exciting for Australian cricket to see some new guys coming through. ‘‘Hopefully, they can make their mark on international cricket as well.’’
Smith has struggled for runs since his dazzling double century and half century at Lord’s in the second Test.
He has been dismissed for scores of 7, 8, 5 and 6 in the two Tests since at Edgbaston and Trent Bridge, which saw Englishman Joe Root surpass him at number one on the ICC Test batting rankings.The fifth Test, and Clarke’s final in international cricket, starts next Thursday.