As far back as 2022, Smith was hinting at retirement after he was quizzed about Ponting’s Australian record of 41 Test hundreds.
“Not really. No. That’s a long way away,” Smith had said about whether he wanted to surpass Ponting. “I’m not sure. I’m 33, 34 next year. I’m not sure how long I’ll play for but we’ll see. But 41 is certainly a long way away.”
Last year, Smith spoke at length about how much more difficult Test cricket had become for batters, given a preponderance of grassy pitches in Australia and adjustments to the Kookaburra ball.
Steve Smith reaches his century against India in Brisbane last year.Credit: AP
But by fashioning a pair of fine centuries against Jasprit Bumrah and India in Brisbane and Melbourne over the summer, Smith proved to himself and the world that he could again scale the heights of his younger days. He followed up with a pair of centuries in Sri Lanka that reaffirmed his ability to bat for long periods.
“He’s coming into another sweet spot in his career. Hopefully that sort of form, he doesn’t want to give up on that too soon,” McDonald has said of Smith. “He plays every series and assesses where he’s at at the end of it.
Loading
“When you’re at that age and you’ve accomplished so much in your career, you’re entitled to be able to do that. The day that he goes, it’ll be a big hole. When that comes, we’re not sure at this stage. As a coach I’d love to have him for as long as possible.”
It was in Galle where Nathan Lyon spoke openly about what the team still wanted to achieve, having reached a point where they hold all bilateral trophies in Test matches.
“We want to become a great Australian team. We’re on that journey. We’re not there yet,” Lyon had said. “We’re on that journey, and that’s our end goal.
“And part of that journey is making sure that when we close the window … we don’t let anyone back in. So it’s all about being ruthless. We haven’t won in India. We haven’t won, we’ve retained the last two Ashes away. So there’s a few things that for me, this is only me and my thoughts as well, but we’ve got some great players in that change room, and there’s no point in hiding behind that.
“You got Smithy bringing up 10,000, Starcy [Mitchell Starc], who’s around the corner from 100 Test matches. So there’s great players there, but I feel like we’re on the journey to becoming a great Australian team. And I think that’s an incredible journey to be a part of.”
News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport are sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.
