Steve Smith has revealed how a bar-room discussion provided the unlikely setting for him to assume the nation's second most important job.
Smith became Australia's youngest Test captain since Kim Hughes, in 2014, when he led the side for three games after Michael Clarke's back injury.
Formally, his promotion came after Cricket Australia's board ratified the recommendation from chairman of selectors Rod Marsh that Smith be given the responsibility ahead of vice-captain Brad Haddin.
Informally, it came when Smith, Haddin and Cricket Australia board member Mark Taylor shared a drink after the Test in which Clarke broke down.
Smith expected vice-captain Haddin to be given the responsibility -- so did Taylor.
But Haddin suggested to Taylor that CA look to the future and fast track Smith's development as a leader.
Smith and Taylor were equally shocked, according to a chapter in the former's recently-released biography 'The Journey'.
"'Don't you want to do it then?' he (Taylor) said to Brad with a smile, perhaps thinking he was joking," Smith wrote.
"'Are you serious?' said Mark, and then he turned to me and said: 'are you ready?'.
"I had absolutely no doubts that I was and said so, and with that Mark said 'I'll go and make some calls then'."
Smith received the call from Marsh the following morning, confirming the gears were in motion and he would become Australia's 45th Test captain.
The next week, he received his captain's blazer from Taylor and led Australia to victory over India at the Gabba.
Smith revisits several key moments in his Test career in the book, both good and bad, while he details four big goals on his cricket bucket list.
The gifted batsman outlines his desire to win both the Ashes and one-day World Cup in 2019, with England hosting both major events.
Smith also wants to lead his team to World Twenty20 success in 2020, when Australia will host the tournament for the first time, and a breakthrough Test series win in Asia.
"None of these ambitions holds any more importance than any other, but if I can be part of sides that achieve them then that will be hugely rewarding," he wrote.
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