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Australia star batter Steve Smith is not planning to take retirement anytime soon from any form of cricket, said his manager Warren Craig. Since David Warner announced his retirement from Test cricket after the conclusion of the third Test against Pakistan in Sydney, there have been rumours that Smith will join his teammate and call his time in red-ball cricket.

Smith had a lacklustre Test season against India in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and against England in the Ashes. Smith has played 9.320 runs in 102 Tests at an average of 58.61 with 32 centuries but failed to continue his form throughout the season.

In 11 Tests Smith played in 2023, the experienced batter smashed three centuries and two fifties. Revealing Smith's Test future, Craig that the former Australian captain is still hungry to achieve things in life and not looking to quit the game.

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“I can debunk that (retirement) at this point in time. He's still talking about things he wants to achieve,” Craig was quoted as saying by Sydney Morning Herald.

The 34-year-old top-order batter has achieved every trophy during his illustrious career, including the Ashes (thrice), ODI World Cup (2015 and 2023), T20 World Cup (2021) and the World Test Championship (2023).

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But this year, he has managed only 518 runs across 17 innings at an average of 34.53. But standing very close to becoming the fourth Australian batter to score 10,000 Test runs, Smith might not want to miss that chance.

Allan Border, Ricky Ponting and Steve Waugh are the Aussie players to have crossed that landmark.
Smith was also in decent form during the recently concluded ODI World Cup in India, scoring 302 runs from 10 innings at an average of 33.55 with two fifties.

However, former Australian captain Mark Taylor offered a word of caution to Smith.

“It doesn't mean they're done (in mid 30s), but normally you've seen their best by then. The early-30s would be the purple patch for most players,” he told SMH.

Smith's next international assignment will be the three-match Test series against Pakistan, followed by an all-format tour by the West Indies from January 17. Australia will then head to New Zealand for two Tests and a T20I series from February 21.

(With PTI inputs)