Australia captain Tim Paine believes disgraced pair Steve Smith and David Warner could be instrumental in this year’s Ashes series.

The pair’s year-long suspensions for their roles in the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa are set to expire late next month and it is anticipated they will make an immediate return to the international set-up.

Australia have struggled in the absence of their two star batsmen, being whitewashed across five one-day internationals in England last summer and more recently losing a Test series on home soil to India for the first time in their history.

Paine said in quotes on Cricket Australia’s official website: “Those two (Smith and Warner) have got plenty of runs in the bank.

“I see them going to the Ashes and them having a huge part in us winning the series. That’s how important they are to this team, as I see.

“We know how good they are and hopefully, once their bans are up, they will be welcomed back and they’ll win Test matches like they did before.”

Australia completed a 366-run victory over Sri Lanka in Canberra on Monday to seal a 2-0 Test series victory over the tourists.

Paine believes his squad for the blockbuster five-Test series in England – which starts at Edgbaston on August 1 – is starting to take shape.

He added: “I haven’t written any (names) down, but I’ve got a fair idea what it might look like.

“But I’m not a selector, so I get asked for my input but I think they (the three-man selection panel) would have a pretty good picture of what it would look like.

“What we’ve seen over this summer is that we’ve now started to build a squad with plenty of depth, so there’s probably anywhere between 16 and 20 players now that we think are in the mix, which is a really good place to be.”