Smith scored 94 against England to help Australia win the series 2-0. The batsman was relieved of the burden of captaincy after the ball-tampering scandal against South Africa in 2018.
“I’m not sure if there was a conversation. I do what I’m told,” Steve Smith said.
“I was the vice-captain for this game and helped where I could. They are trying to create some new leaders, some young leaders. I’m so cold, I’ll just do my job. Smith captained the Test team against England in Adelaide during the 2021 Ashes series, when Cummins was dropped because he was considered a close contact of someone suffering from COVID-19.
The controversy has left the question that Smith’s return will take a step back for Australia, but former bowler Stuart Clarke said he is now more suitable to play only as a batsman.
“If they want him to be captain, he will do it and if they don’t, he won’t. He [Steve Smith] is happy to help whenever he can, but he doesn’t have the ambition to do more work anymore,” Clarke said.
He’s a little older, he’s married, and he’s probably closer to the end of his career than the beginning. As far as cricket is concerned, he still has a long way to go, but he was captain for a long time.
There are also ominous signs for England and other countries over Smith’s form during the series, as he has scored 174 runs in two innings and been dismissed only once. He batted well without reaching the winter heights of 2017-18, when he scored 687 during Australia’s beat England – but before being out of international cricket for a year due to ball tampering.
Steve Smith said about his form, “This is my movement, my hands, the time when I feel like I have the ball and where I am hitting the ball. I think I’m in a good place.
“It’s a statement that will please Australia fans ahead of the Test series against west Indies and South Africa, followed by the Ashes in britain next summer.
“He kept Australia together today and that’s what we know him for,” Clarke said.”It’s starting to look like the 2018 Ashes edition again. He has changed his technique, his legs, his hands. It looks easy to him now.