Former Australian Test captain Steve Smith talks about his future plans ahead of the team’s ODI series against T20Is World Cup champion England.
The 33-year-old Smith started playing international cricket in 2010 but now feels he is at the end of his career, despite admitting that there is cricket left in him.
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Speaking to The Daily Telegraph about his future plans, he said, “No, I don’t have any plans, but I’m 33 now. I’ve been playing international cricket for 13 years. That’s a long time.” . I’m still enjoying it, but I’m definitely closer to the end than the beginning, that’s for sure.”
So far, Smith has represented Australia in 87 Tests, scoring 8161 runs at an average of 60.01, including 28 centuries. He also represented his country in 136 ODIs and 63 T20Is.
Smith had a roller-coaster career as he faced a few downs but it must be noted that he has been one of the finest in Test cricket in Australia.
He is currently sixth in the list of leading Test run scorers, behind only Matthew Hayden (8625), Michael Clarke (8643), Steve Waugh (10,927), Allan Border (11,174) and Ricky Ponting (13,378).
He has also achieved many achievements in his career, such as ICC Player of the Year twice, ICC Men’s Test Player of the Decade (2011-2020), ICC Test Team of the Year (2015, 2016, 2017, 2019), Allan Border Medal (2015, 2018, 2021).
However, at this stage of his career, he has the luxury of taking a back seat and not taking much pressure as there are youngsters like Marnus Labuschagne, Travis Head and Cameron Green who can be aggressive with the bat on the pitch.
On this, Smith agreed that now the pressure is less than before.
“I liked the added pressure and responsibility. I probably thrived under it. I’m not sure it took a toll towards the back end of my career. I think maybe a little less pressure than before,” he Told.
“Guys are making valuable contributions all around with the bat,” he added.
“You would expect some of us to get off almost every innings in a way that is really good for the team. We have a good line-up of batsmen and players are playing good cricket.”
Smith will be back in the Test jersey against the West Indies and South Africa when the team faces Australia in the Test series.
The first Test against the West Indies will take place on November 30 (Wednesday) at the Optus Stadium in Perth.
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