The seasoned Australian hitter Steve Smith has shot down rumours that he is retiring from Test cricket and has made it clear that he is not. He continued by saying he had no idea how rumours about his Test future got started.
Prior to the fifth and final Ashes match at The Ovallps in 2023, former England captain Michael Vaughan was quoted in media reports as saying that he had heard rumours about Smith and David Warner retiring from Test cricket.
On Friday, July 28, after the second day of play in the final Ashes Test, Smith addressed speculation about his retirement in a press conference.
“I’m not retiring. I have no idea (where it’s come from) because I haven’t said it to anyone. I am not going anywhere yet,” he said.
In Ashes 2023, the 34-year-old hasn’t run consistently. He failed to score a hundred at Lord’a but had underwhelming performances in the previous three Tests going into The Oval. On Friday, however, he stood out, leading Australia from 185/7 to 295 in their first innings with a best score of 71 off 123 balls.
Reflecting on his recent batting performances, the right-handed batter stated that he feels he has done a decent job.
“I felt pretty good. Today is the best I have batted maybe outside of the Test Championship (final). I would have liked more runs (on this tour) of course but two hundreds in six games for the winter here, I think it’s reasonable,” Smith elaborated.
In the WTC championship match against India, Smith hit a resolute 121 as Australia defeated India by 209 runs.
Smith called the Australian batters’ inability to finish starts “a little disappointing.”
Australia resumed their first innings on Day 2 at 61/1 in response to England’s 283 total. They slumped to 185/7, however, as they continued to lose wickets. They reached 295 after a lower-order comeback, giving the visitors a slim 12-run advantage.
However, Smith bemoaned the batters’ lack of effort on Day 2.
“A lot of us got starts and weren’t able to capitalise and go and put one of those partnerships that were 40 or 50 into 100-150 to give us a decent lead. So, a bit disappointing from that aspect. I would have liked a few more partners to maybe stick around and be able to just play normally for a while,” he said.
Pat Cummins (36) and Todd Murphy (34) also contributed with useful efforts in Australia’s first innings, in addition to Smith’s important half-century.