‘It’s been a good ride’: Steve Smith may retire before Ashes
Steve Smith says he might not make it to next year’s Ashes series as the Aussie cricket superstar moves his focus to the shortest format of the game.
The 37-year-old is arguably the best batter Australia has produced since Ricky Ponting, and he is still the best currently available for selection in the men’s Test team.
Steve Smith celebrates his hundred at the SCG. Getty
He boasts an astonishing average of 56.00 from 125 matches and is fourth on Australia’s all-time Test runs list. He is eight runs away from jumping above Steve Waugh – who played 168 matches – into third spot.
But Smith has been coy on his future in Test cricket for several years, with speculation about his retirement a common talking point in the sport.
And in a fresh interview with the UK Telegraph, the Sydneysider admitted he may decide to hang up the whites before Australia’s series in England in the middle of next year.
That’s despite the fact Smith has never won a Test series in England, and it is thought to be a major driving factor for several of Australia’s ageing stars.
“I don’t even know if I’ll be there yet,” Smith told the Telegraph.
“I’m kind of a series-by-series proposition, as I’ve been for a while, and that’s still a fair way away for me right now.
“So, yeah, I’d love to win (a series) there or to have won one there, but you wait and see if that comes to fruition.
“I’ve had a lot of fun. I’m still enjoying it, so I don’t have an end date, we’ll wait and see. But it’s been a good ride.”
While players like Aussie fast bowler Mitchell Starc are bucking the trend to focus their energy on Test cricket, others are increasingly chasing the riches on offer in Twenty20.
While Smith isn’t necessarily driven by money, he admits his focus is now on T20 more than red-ball cricket as he pushes for selection at the 2028 LA Olympics.
He will be 39 years old by that stage and no guarantee to still be in Australia’s best T20 team. He is currently in Dublin playing for the Amsterdam Flames in the European T20 Premier League, trying to get as much T20 in as he can.
Steve Smith meeting fans in Darwin. Getty Images
“Right now probably it’s just the Olympics, to try to be a part of that,” Smith said of his remaining goals.
“One of the reasons why I wanted to play with Amsterdam here was just to continue playing as much T20 cricket as I can.
“I was keen immediately to come and play in a new market and, hopefully, share some experiences with the local players and associate players: share a dressing room with them and try to impart some of my knowledge on to them. It’s been really good.”
Smith’s next Aussie assignment will be with the Test team when it takes on South Africa next month.
It will be the first time Smith, and the team, has been back to South Africa since the infamous 2018 ball tampering scandal that resulted in bans for then-captain Smith, David Warner, and Cameron Bancroft.
