Steve Smith casts doubt over Ashes 2027 appearance

Steve Smith has made no commitment to the next Ashes campaign, with the veteran batter continuing to assess his Test future one series at a time. Despite the possibility of attempting to win the Ashes series for the first time in England, 37-year-old Smith has not decided whether he will participate in Australia's tour of England next summer.

"I don't even know if I’ll be there yet,” Smith said in a interview with The Telegraph. "As I have been for some time, I'm in a kind of series-by-series proposition, and that's still a fair way away for me right now. I’d love to win one there or to have won one there, but you wait and see if that comes to fruition.”

Australia is getting ready for a difficult series of Test matches, including away series against South Africa, India, and England. Smith’s attention, for now, is on Australia’s upcoming series against the current holders of the World Test Championship. The three-Test contest will take him back to the country in Test cricket for the first time since the 2018 ball-tampering scandal, although Smith is keen to draw a line under that episode.

“For me, it’s just another series,” Smith said. “All of that happened a long time ago, and since then, we have played a lot of cricket and traveled to South Africa for one-day matches. They’re a good side at the moment, obviously beat us in the World Test Championship final. They have a really good pace attack as well, so should be a cracker of a series.”

Smith has no intention of quitting the game entirely, even though his contract with the Test team is still up in the air. He continues to look for T20 opportunities, and one of his frequently-stated goals is to represent Australia at the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028. Smith stated, "Right now probably it is just the Olympics to try to be a part of that."

"Just to continue playing as much T20 cricket as I can was one of the reasons why I wanted to play with Amsterdam [at the European T20 Premier League]," the player stated.

In a similar vein, Smith has refrained from establishing a timetable for his playing career, stating that his enjoyment of the game has not diminished. "I still like to think I could play Twenty20 cricket for some time. When I'm done, what comes next? I’m not sure, but yeah, hopefully a bit more time left playing.

"In the game, I've accomplished a lot. 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. However, it has been a pleasant ride.

Smith also remains confident in his batting despite the increasing challenges presented by modern Test conditions, particularly the amount of movement available to seamers. He has scored 37 Test centuries while averaging 49.4 over the past two years. “I feel like I’m batting really nicely,” Smith said.

I've discovered various strategies for dealing with these challenging surfaces while still scoring runs. So trying to contribute as well as I can for the team, score runs, take catches, help out in leadership areas where I need to. It's been a fun and enjoyable few years."