Smith rested, Warner to captain Australia for remainder of Sri Lanka tour

Colombo, Aug. 24 (ANI): Australia captain Steve Smith has been rested for the remainder of the tour of Sri Lanka and David Warner will lead the side in rest of the matches, which includes three ODIs and two T20Is. Smith announced the development after Sri Lanka defeated Australia by 82 runs in the second ODI to level the five-match series 1-1 in Colombo. "I hate missing cricket, but in the long run it will do me a world of good," Smith was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo. "The schedule is very busy. I still want to take on the role in all three formats and do it to the best of my ability." Meanwhile, Cricket Australia's national selector Rod Marsh said in a statement, "Steve has a large amount of cricket coming up in the next 12 months and we wanted to find a time for him to freshen up and these last five matches provide a good opportunity to do so. Regardless of the results of the first two matches our plan was always for Steve to take a break and refresh ahead of the ODI Series against South Africa next month." (ANI)