• Source:JND

Australia vs England 5th Test, Ashes 2025-26: Australia's stand-in captain Steve Smith has reacted to the ongoing talks around his possible retirement from Test cricket ahead of the final Ashes Test against England, starting from Sunday, December 4. Confirming that the fifth and final Test of the series in Sydney will not be his last, Smith added cheekily that with Usman Khawaja quitting after the game, it would not be great if he too retired next week.

Smith, who has captained Australia in three out of four Tests so far in the Ashes in the absence of Pat Cummins, clarified that he has long preferred to assess his future on a series-by-series basis. Australia have already clinched the Ashes series and are 3-1 ahead. Heading forward, Australia will host Bangladesh for a two-Test series in Mackay and Darwin in August. This will be followed by a five-Test tour of India in January and February, before the 150th anniversary Test against England in March, ahead of the 2027 Ashes.

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"Ultimately, you probably want a group of players that you can get to and have playing in that cycle to get to the World Test Championship final. But I guess that’s a question for the coach and selectors as well," Smith said while speaking at the pre-match press conference.

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"I’ve still got a while before that as well. It’s things I’m thinking about all the time. With Usman dropping off now, it’s one of our experienced players, so it probably wouldn’t be ideal if he and I went out this week, for instance," Smith added.

Having missed the Adelaide Test due to an injury issue, Smith has played three matches in the series and has scored 136 runs at an average of 45.33 on the back of a fifty. When asked if the Sydney Test could be his last, Smith said, "Nah (it won’t be). I’m enjoying it. It’s fun. We’ve got a really good team. The team we’ve had over the last three or four years, obviously making two World Test Championship finals, different people have stood up at different times," Smith said.

Australia stand at the top of the WTC points table in the ongoing 2025-27 cycle with six wins out of seven matches and have 72 points under their belt and an incredible PCT of 85.71%.


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