Steve Smith (Image: ANI)
Smith has already enjoyed an extraordinary Test career, featuring in 125 Tests and scoring 37 centuries. It’s been a great ride for the last 15 years or thereabouts. Australia retained the Ashes during Smith’s tours in 2019 and 2023, with both series ending 2-2. However, Australia have not won an Ashes series in England since 2001.
“I don’t even know if I’ll be there yet,” Smith told The Telegraph when asked about the 2027 Ashes. “I’m kind of a series-by-series proposition, as I’ve been for a while,” he said. Despite his age, Smith said he is still enjoying playing cricket and has no fixed retirement date. I’m still enjoying it, so I don’t have an end date, we’ll wait and see,” he said.
He is also currently ranked second among men’s Test batters, behind England’s Harry Brook. “I’ve achieved a lot in the game. I’ve had a lot of fun. One of the few major achievements missing from Smith’s illustrious career is winning an Ashes series outright in England.
Smith admitted that winning the Ashes in England would be special, but the possibility of achieving that goal is not enough for him to commit to playing in 2027. The Australian is currently playing for the Amsterdam Flames in the European T20 Premier League, with Smith saying that one of his motivations for joining the competition was to play more T20 cricket. “Oh, for me, it’s just another series. They’re a good side at the moment – obviously beat us in the World Test Championship final. They have a really good pace attack as well, so should be a cracker of a series.”
All that happened a long time ago, and we’ve played a lot of cricket – we’ve been back to South Africa since then for one-dayers.