‘I haven’t said it to anyone’ – Steve Smith talks about his retirement rumours amid 5th Ashes 2023 Test

Australia’s veteran batter Steve Smith has been a constant performer for his team, especially in the Test format. He is currently in action in the ongoing Ashes 2023 series and has performed decently. The ongoing 5th Test of the series witnessed a magnificent half-century from the veteran.

Meanwhile, there were multiple rumours about Smith taking retirement from international were surfacing on social media. However, now, Smith himself shut all the rumours and said that he is not thinking about it currently. Reportedly it was former England captain Michael Vaughan who said that Smith is thinking about his retirement.

“I’m not retiring. I have no idea (where it’s come from) because I haven’t said it to anyone. I am not going anywhere yet,” Smith was quoted as saying by Sportskeeda.

Two hundreds in six games for the winter here, I think it’s reasonable: Steve Smith

Smith was brilliant on Day 2 of the 5th day as he played a responsible knock of 71 runs and helped the team to score 295 runs in the first innings after which Australia gained a 12-run lead over England. Smith later talked about his performance in the Ashes and said that he is quite happy. However, Australia’s batting display was not satisfying as according to Smith, many batters got the start but couldn’t capitalise it to make it big.

“I felt pretty good. Today is the best I have batted maybe outside of the Test Championship (final). I would have liked more runs (on this tour) of course but two hundreds in six games for the winter here, I think it’s reasonable,” Smith said.

“A lot of us got starts and weren’t able to capitalize and go and put one of those partnerships that were 40 or 50 into 100-150 to give us a decent lead. So a bit disappointing from that aspect. I would have liked a few more partners to maybe stick around and be able to just play normally for a while.” he added.