Following the axing of Steve Smith and David Warner by Cricket Australia due to their involvement in the ball-tampering incident that played out in South Africa, Australian all-rounder Mitchell Marsh has come out and stated that he is "absolutely" willing to step in and take the responsibility to captain the country in both Tests and ODIs. 

Having banned Smith and Warner for 1 year and further imposing that the duo can never lead the country again, Cricket Australia is yet to announce Tim Paine's deputy in the whites and the position of a full-time ODI skipper is vacant too. 

Marsh, who will be captaining Australia A during their tour of India soon, was quoted telling Cricket.com.au as, "I'm still young when it comes to my leadership ... but where we're at at the moment, there's going to be a few young leaders,"

"Captaining the Australia A series in India, I don't see it as a dress rehearsal for me, but I see it as a great opportunity to captain in those conditions. I've captained in Australia and at the WACA, where ... fast bowlers are used a lot more, so they're different conditions. So this is an opportunity to work on my captaincy around spin, setting fields around the bat and those sort of things."

"I'll work as much with the spinners and learn as much as I can so I can be the best captain I can be for WA and be the best leader I can be in Australian cricket."

Marsh further added, "I think as a vice-captain you've got to be the best person you can be for your skipper, give them your full support and be a shoulder to lean on," 

"And around the group, (you should) be the same person. That's one thing I've learned about leadership is to not change the reason you get appointed in the first place. You've become a leader because of the person you are, so I won't change much."

(Inputs from Cricket.com.au)