Smith bats away retirement talk, keeps England guessing ahead of final Ashes Test

Australia skipper Steve Smith said Saturday he had no end date to call time on his career, while keeping England guessing on how his team will line up for the fifth and final Ashes Test.

With the retirement of Usman Khawaja after the Sydney Test on Sunday and Nathan Lyon out injured, Smith will be the oldest player in the Australian line-up alongside Scott Boland.

Asked if he would still be playing at the next Ashes in England in 2027, the 36-year-old was non-committal, but said he was enjoying his cricket.

“I’ve said it for a while, I’m taking it day-by-day, series-by-series, and we’ll see where things land,” said Smith, who has played 122 Tests and scored more than 10,000 runs.

“I feel like I’m doing alright at the moment, I’m enjoying it, I’m contributing, and having fun. So there’s no real end date for me.

“I think with obviously Usman dropping off, he’s one of our experienced players, so it probably wouldn’t be ideal if him and I went out this week, for instance,” he added. “So no, I want to keep playing.”

Khawaja, 39, announced his retirement on Friday, culminating a career where it began after making his debut at the Sydney Cricket Ground in 2011, also against England.

Smith paid tribute to his long-time teammate, but refused to be drawn on the Pakistan-born player’s claims of “racial stereotyping” during his career.

“I’m not going into the mind of Usman Khawaja,” he said.

Khawaja claimed the way he was treated by media and former players after he played golf before the first Test in Perth and could not bat because of back spasms amounted to “the same racial stereotypes” he had always dealt with.

“I think he’s always prepared the same way, he’s worked hard and I think some of the stuff around him getting injured when he played golf the day before the game, that was unfair,” said Smith.

“He’s done that for 15 years and had a pretty good career.”

In terms of Australia’s team for Sydney, Smith said everything was on the table with another look at the wicket required.

“Could play a couple of all rounders, could play a spinner, could play no spinner,” he said.

“We’ll figure it out once we see the surface and see which way we want to go about it.”

Australia lead the five-Test series 3-1 after eight-wicket wins in Perth and Brisbane, before an 82-run victory in Adelaide ensured they retained the famous urn.

England bounced back to clinch their first Test victory in Australia for 15 years at Melbourne, winning by four wickets inside two days.

While the Ashes are secure, Smith said there was still plenty of motivation with World Test Championship points at stake.

“With the World Test championship, every game is important,” he said.

“Hopefully we can turn it around here, win this series 4-1, and now, more importantly, just win a Test in the World Test championship cycle.”

Meanwhile, captain Ben Stokes on Saturday called the fifth and final Test against Australia a “huge game” for England and vowed there would be no coasting at the end of a long and draining Ashes tour.

The tourists go into the clash on Sunday at the Sydney Cricket Ground buoyed by a four-wicket win inside two days at the previous Test in Melbourne.

It snapped a 15-year winless streak in Australia but came too late to save the series with the hosts retaining the urn by winning in Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide.

Stokes said it was important to keep the momentum going.

Agencies