LONDON: Steve Smith insists he has no plans to follow the lead of Australia team-mate cricket player David Warner by announcing a date for his retirement from international Test cricket.
Warner, with just one century in his past 32 innings, last week announced his plan to retire from Test cricket in front of his hometown fans in the New Year Test against Pakistan in Sydney in January.
Former Australia captain Smith indicated in January that he was contemplating retirement before returning on those remarks.
Asked if he had any greater clarity about his future in the light of Warner’s comments ahead of the World Test Championship (WTC) final against India cricket team, Smith told reporters at the Oval: “No”.
Both players Smith and Warner are mainstays of the Test side; however, the 34-year-old Smith is two years younger than Warner.
Whether Warner gets the chance to bow out as he would like may depend on his form during the five-Test Ashes series in England that follows hot on the heels of the WTC final.
“It’s nice to have an end date, I suppose, if that’s how you want to go,” Smith said.
“But ultimately, for all of us, we will be doing our job, and for batters, that are scoring runs.
“In an ideal world, Davey said that’s when he’d like to pick it up.
“But we’ve got to score runs, all of us. So we’ll see what happens.”
Smith has been a prolific performer in Test cricket, scoring 8,792 runs at a high average of 59.80, including 30 hundred in 96 matches.
But the WTC final and Ashes series are taking place amid fears the future of the long-format game could be threatened by the growth of global franchise Twenty20 cricket, with top players set to be offered year-round contracts across multiple leagues.
“I am slightly concerned,” Smith said. “Hopefully, Test cricket still stays alive and well.
“I think it’s in a good place at the moment in because terms of some of the games we have seen recently have been pretty amazing.
“As a traditionalist who loves Test cricket, I hope it remains at the front of all the boards’ minds and stays alive and well for some time to come.”