A self-confessed cheat has no right to lead the nation’s XI and it was appropriate that he stood down for the remainder of the third Test in South Africa.

His behaviour in concocting a ball tampering plan was immoral, unsporting and demeaning.

Smith will forever have a stain against his name and he does not deserve to be skipper.

The holder of that job may be aggressive (Ian Chappell), ruthless (Allan Border) or relentless (Ricky Ponting) but he cannot be deliberately dishonest in his approach to the game.

Australians have accepted, some grudgingly, that the national men’s cricket team takes a gung-ho attitude to play, with sledging having long been a contentious issue.

However, it was clear from the reaction to Smith’s deed they cannot abide cheating.

The outrage was massive and support for Smith as rare as a good Newspoll for Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s government.

In light of that it was hard to fathom why Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland appeared so unwilling to get on the front foot in his media conference yesterday.

Sutherland said he was concerned about the spirit in which the team played cricket, but he admitted not speaking to Smith and declined to use the word cheating instead saying it was a “sad day”.

The administrator said “process” needed to be followed and a Cricket Australia investigation undertaken.

Of course there should be a full probe into Smith’s action as well as the roles of other players such as vice captain David Warner, who has also stood aside, and coach Darren Lehmann, but the prima facie evidence is damning.

Smith said "I'm incredibly sorry for trying to bring the game into disrepute the way we did” and player Cameron Bancroft confessed he interfered with the ball.

For Smith to claim “I still think I’m the right person for the job” reflected somebody oblivious to the fallout of his actions.

With some surveys showing more than 90 per cent of Australians opposed to Smith retaining the captaincy, he can’t expect to return to that role after the third Test.

For confidence in the national team to be restored, Smith cannot be captain and there has to be a radical overhaul to the culture that allowed such a duplicitous plan to be deemed appropriate by senior players.