Steve Smith is adamant he can rediscover his run-scoring ways without any major changes this summer and has no plans to follow David Warner into retirement.
Warner, 37, will retire from Australia’s Test ranks at the conclusion of the three-Test series against Pakistan, which begins on Thursday in Perth.
Smith is three years younger than Warner but is coming off a lean period by his lofty standards.
Although the veteran of 322 internationals for Australia is in the back end of his career, Smith has no plans to walk away any time soon.
“I just take it day by day and enjoy my time playing,” Smith said.
“And while I’m enjoying it I’ll keep playing. I’m not in any hurry to make any decisions or anything. I’m pretty relaxed and looking forward to the summer.”
Smith has been part of the Australia sides that lifted the Cricket World Cup trophy last month and World Test Championship mace in June, despite being below his best with the bat across the year.
From the beginning of 2023, the 34-year-old has averaged just 43.2 in 11 Tests, and 31.4 in 16 ODIs, and is no longer a part of Australia’s first-choice T20 side.
Those figures are well below Smith’s career averages in Tests (58.61) and ODIs (43.54).
He pointed to a simple solution to fix a rare form dip in his glittering career.
“Just score runs,” Smith said with a smile.
“I don’t have to reinvent the wheel. I think I’ve performed at a high standard for a long period of time. And you’re right, I was probably below my standards of what I want.
“So for me, it’s not overthinking it, not overplaying too much, not changing too much, just going out and trusting what I do and doing it for longer periods of time.”
Warner’s retirement plans have dominated headlines over the past week following a scathing column from Mitchell Johnson.
The former pace ace used his column to question whether Warner deserved a farewell tour given his recent form and role in the Sandpapergate saga.
Smith steered clear of the storm around Johnson’s criticism of the veteran opener.
“Everyone in the media is entitled to their opinion,” he said.
“But you know, I’m not buying into anything that is going on between those two, so I’ll stay out of that one.”
Warner is planning to retire from Test cricket after the third match in the series against Pakistan to be held on his home deck at the SCG from 3 to 7 January.
The left-hander has amassed 8,487 runs at an average of 44.43 across 109 Tests, but has only scored one century – a double ton against South Africa in 2022 – since the Sydney Test in 2020.
With questions over Warner’s place in the Test XI simmering, Smith threw his support behind the under-fire opener.
“Look at his career. It has been incredible,” Smith said.
“I think he’s closing in on all-time most runs as an opener. It’s pretty incredible given some of the batters that have gone before him as openers as well. He’s been a tremendous player for over a decade.”
