STEVE Smith is off to Canada to restart his cricket career but a dream stint in England under his old mentor still appears unlikely despite a shock late development.

Indian captain Virat Kohli has pulled out of his contract with English county Surrey, opening up an unexpected international vacancy under the coaching of Michael di Venuto, the former Australian assistant and close Smith confidant.

Di Venuto flagged his interest in signing Smith or David Warner in the wake of the ball-tampering bans but it doesn’t seem as though the county will explore that opportunity given the England Cricket Board has given the impression they would block any such attempt.

Smith has been locked in as a marquee signing for the fledgling Global T20 Canada League, with Warner hoping to join him if he gets picked up at a draft for the tournament to be held on Tuesday.

The 7000-seat capacity Maple Leaf Ground just north of Toronto might not be where you’d expect the deposed Australian cricket captain to make his much-anticipated return to the game.

However, the six-team tournament running between June 28 and July 16 will allow Smith and likely Warner the chance to blow out some cobwebs and boost the profile of the game in an emerging market.

Speculation linking Smith to the Northern Territory Blast later this winter is off the mark, but the 28-year-old has fielded interest from Twenty20 leagues around the world.

Cricket Australia had hoped Smith, Warner and Cameron Bancroft might be snapped up to play in English county cricket, and the withdrawal of Kohli due to a neck complaint has left the door slightly ajar for that possibility.

However, it’s understood the England Cricket Board has taken the view that if the trio are banned from domestic cricket in their own country, why should they allow them to play in their competition?

There is a feeling in some quarters that the magnitude of the ball-tampering punishments might have possibly been too great, but there is no chance Cricket Australia will back down on the sanctions already handed down.

Australia are making all the right noises that Smith, Warner (12 months) and Bancroft (nine months) will be welcomed back into the fold once their international and state bans are lifted.

However, there remain question marks about how they can bring themselves up to international-standard form with potentially no first-class cricket available to them between now and next winter’s World Cup and Ashes.

It seems T20 leagues in Canada, the Middle East, Caribbean and Asia are really the only international options available outside of grade cricket in Sydney and Perth respectively.

Chris Lynn is the other Australian featuring among the marquees in Canada, alongside Shahid Afridi, Dwayne Bravo, Chris Gayle, Lasith Malinga, David Miller, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell and Darren Sammy.

Meanwhile, Channel 7 has confirmed the signing of Damien Fleming to commentate Tests and Big Bash for cricket’s new free-to-air broadcaster.

Fleming was a key member of Channel 10’s successful BBL coverage and also fielded interest from Fox Sports.

The former Australian swing bowler is Seven’s second high-profile signing after they landed Ricky Ponting to front their coverage.

“It will be exciting to continue my relationship with Ricky Ponting in the commentary box and I’m sure all Aussie cricket fans will enjoy the innovative new coverage Seven will be bringing to the Big Bash and Test match cricket,” said Fleming.

In other news, Cricket NSW are expected to announce their new coach on Monday after completing final-round interviews.

Phil Jaques has competition from Brad Haddin for the role, after NSW responded to a poor season by cleaning out their coaching and playing ranks.