The 35-year-old Steve Smith has signed a three-year deal with Big Bash League (BBL) franchise Sydney Sixers. Smith has been in tremendous format of late, especially in T20 cricket where he won the Major League Cricket (MLC) 2024 as Washington Freedom captain. Currently, Smith has no plans to retire and even sees himself playing in Los Angeles Olympics 2028 as cricket returns after a long hiatus.
"I don't have any plans," he was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo. "I'm just enjoying playing at the moment, I'm pretty relaxed and looking forward to this summer."
Smith wasn’t picked in Australia’s squad for T20 World Cup 2024 where they could not make it to the semifinals under Mitchell Marsh’s leadership.
Smith unsure about opening spot
Meanwhile, Smith does not have clarity over his batting position in Tests. After David Warner retired, Smith opened the innings against West Indies and New Zealand. He has scored 171 runs from eight innings. His best of 91 not out came against West Indies at the Gabba in a losing cause.
Smith will be back in action again on the international stage when Australia take on England in the ODI series. He will play Test cricket at home later this year when India tour Australia for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. The veteran batter is happy to bat anywhere in the lineup.
"The conversations I've had so far is that we'll go to England… I'm there for the one-dayers, then make a decision after that," he said. "There's conversations happening in the background. You see some comments that guys like Usman [Khawaja] has said he likes me down at No. 4, think Marnus is of a similar thought pattern. We'll wait and see. I'm happy to bat anywhere.
"For me, it's just a position. Batting at four, I could be in after the first two balls. I've been in early on many occasions and faced the new ball. For me, it's kind of just a number. I batted at three for a long period of time as well and we lost wickets inside the first over and I'll come out and score runs. The only real thing I had to get used to was how quick a turnaround it is when you come off the field and you only have ten minutes, particularly with the amount of mucking around I have in the changing rooms."
Smith chasing major milestone
Smith will be chasing a milestone in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. He is 315 runs away form becoming fourth Australian batter after former captains Ricky Ponting, Allan Border and Steve Waugh to score 10,000 runs in the format.
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