Steve Smith has admitted he is unsure whether he will still be playing Test cricket when Australia travel to England for the 2027 Ashes, putting a question mark over the future of one of the most accomplished batters of his generation.
The 37-year-old Australian has refused to put a date on his retirement and says he is approaching his Test career one series at a time. While the prospect of finally winning an Ashes series in England remains a major attraction, Smith made it clear that the ambition alone will not determine whether he continues until 2027.
If you enjoyed reading this article, you can help support our journalism by adding OHeraldo as a preferred source.
“I don’t even know if I’ll be there yet,” Smith told The Telegraph when asked about the next Ashes series.
Smith has increasingly adopted a cautious approach to his international future. Rather than looking several years ahead, the former Australia captain is assessing his motivation and fitness after each series.
“I’m kind of a series-by-series proposition, as I’ve been for a while,” he said.
Despite his advancing age, Smith remains one of Australia’s key Test batters. He has played 125 Tests and scored 37 centuries, while currently sitting second in the ICC men’s Test batting rankings behind England’s Harry Brook.
Smith insists that he is still enjoying the game and has no fixed retirement date.
“I’ve achieved a lot in the game. It’s been a great ride for the last 15 years or thereabouts. 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,” he said.
One factor that could tempt Smith to continue is Australia’s long-standing struggle to win an Ashes series in England. Australia retained the Ashes on their 2019 and 2023 tours, but both series finished 2-2. Their last outright Ashes series victory in England came in 2001.
Smith acknowledged that winning the series in England would be a special achievement, but stopped short of committing himself to the 2027 campaign.
“I’d love to win one there or to have won one there, but you wait and see if that comes to fruition,” he said.
Interestingly, Smith’s biggest long-term motivation may now lie outside Test cricket. The batter revealed that representing Australia at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics is currently one of his main ambitions.
Cricket will return to the Olympics at LA 2028 in the T20 format, and Smith has already been looking to strengthen his skills in the shortest format. He is currently playing for Amsterdam Flames in the European T20 Premier League and said the opportunity to play more T20 cricket was one reason for joining the competition.
For now, however, Smith’s immediate focus is Australia’s three-Test series against South Africa in October. It will be his first Test tour of the country since the 2018 ball-tampering scandal that resulted in his 12-month international ban.
Smith played down the significance of returning to South Africa, saying the events were now well in the past.
Australia will face a strong South African side that defeated them in the World Test Championship final, with Smith expecting a challenging series.
With the 2027 Ashes still more than a year away, one thing remains unclear: whether Australia’s star batter will be there to chase the one Ashes achievement that has so far eluded him.
