Australia’s stand-in Test skipper Steve Smith on Saturday (January 3) dismissed speculations of his international retirement, while keeping England guessing on his team’s playing XI for the Ashes finale at SCG.
With Usman Khawaja announcing his retirement after the Sydney Test and Nathan Lyon out injured, Smith will be the oldest player in the Australian lineup alongside Scott Boland.
The 36-year-old remained non-committal when asked if he would be participating in the next Ashes series in 2027, but said he was enjoying his cricket.
“I’ve said it for a while, I’m taking it day-by-day, series-by-series, and we’ll see where things land,” said Smith, who has 10,613 Test runs to his name from 122 matches.
“I feel like I’m doing alright at the moment, I’m enjoying it, I’m contributing, and having fun. So there’s no real end date for me.
“I think with obviously Usman dropping off, he’s one of our experienced players, so it probably wouldn’t be ideal if him and I went out this week, for instance. So no, I want to keep playing,” he added.
On Friday (January 2), Khawaja confirmed the fifth and final Ashes Test will be his final time wearing the Baggy Green. The southpaw will play his 88th and final Test in the city he grew up in.
While Smith paid tribute to his long-time teammate, he refrained from commenting on the Pakistan-born player’s claims of “racial stereotyping” during his career.
“I’m not going into the mind of Usman Khawaja,” Smith stated.
Khawaja claimed the way he was treated by media and former players after he played golf before the Ashes opener at Perth and could not bat because of back spasms amounted to “the same racial stereotypes” he had always dealt with.
“I think he’s always prepared the same way, he’s worked hard and I think some of the stuff around him getting injured when he played golf the day before the game, that was unfair,” said Smith. “He’s done that for 15 years and had a pretty good career.”
Speaking of Australia’s playing XI for Sydney Test, Smith said the final will be taken after another look at the wicket.
“Could play a couple of all rounders, could play a spinner, could play no spinner,” he said. “We’ll figure it out once we see the surface and see which way we want to go about it.”
With the Ashes urn already secured, Steve Smith said there was still plenty of motivation with WTC points at stake.
“With the World Test championship, every game is important. Hopefully we can turn it around here, win this series 4-1, and now, more importantly, just win a Test in the World Test championship cycle,” he remarked.
(With AFP Inputs)
