Steve Smith to Continue Test Cricket Career, Denies Retirement Rumors
Manager Confirms Smith's Desire to Achieve More, Despite Recent Struggles
According to his longtime manager Warren Craig, Steve Smith will not retire from Test cricket like his teammate David Warner did. Smith believes he can still accomplish much more.
Warner had stated that he would like to say goodbye to Sydney following the third and final Test match against Pakistan, which begins on January 3, 2024. There have been discussions about Smith doing the same following a disappointing season this year against England and India.
The New South Welshman has struggled to score large runs this season, despite having the greatest overall average among modern batsmen with 9320 runs from 102 Tests at an average of 58.61 with 32 hundreds.
Craig, though, refused to believe the circulating gossip.
At this moment, I can refute that (retirement). Craig is still talking about the goals he has for himself, according to a Sydney Morning Herald quote.
Throughout his remarkable career, the 34-year-old top-order batsman has won every major championship, including three Ashes titles, two ODI World Cups (in 2015 and 2023), one T20 World Cup (2021), and one World Test Championship (2023).
However, he has only scored 518 runs at an average of 34.53 this year over 17 innings. Smith, however, is on the verge of becoming the fourth batter from Australia to amass 10,000 Test runs, so he might not want to pass up the opportunity.
Australian players Allan Border, Ricky Ponting, and Steve Waugh are the ones who have reached that milestone.
Smith also played well in the recently finished ODI World Cup in India, amassing 302 runs at an average of 33.55 from 10 innings, including two fifties.
But Mark Taylor, a former captain of Australia, issued a warning.
to Smith.
"They're not necessarily done (in their mid-30s), but by then you've usually seen their best work. For most players, the early 30s would be the purple patch, he said to SMH.
Smith's next international assignment is a three-match Test series against Pakistan, which begins on January 17. The West Indies will then embark on an all-format tour. After that, on February 21, Australia will travel to New Zealand for a T20I series and two Test matches.
There's no reason for Smith to hang up his pads just yet if he can find that batting spark again in the next assignments.
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