Smith going nowhere as opportunity looms

While Steve Smith insists he has no plans to retire any time soon, Australia's No.4 could well be handed an opportunity to fill in the one missing piece from his glittering Test record before this Ashes series is over.

Smith top-scored with 71 for the visitors in their first-innings total of 295, which edged them 12 ahead of England at the close of day two at The Oval.

After play, the 34-year-old hosed down rumours that had been circulating regarding his impending retirement.

"I'm not retiring," Smith said. "I have no idea (where it's come from), because I haven't said it to anyone. I am not going anywhere yet."

Australia will likely need their prolific right-hander firing at the back-end of this match.

If Stuart Broad's suggestion that The Oval wicket was generally at its best for batting on day three, Pat Cummins' side could be left with a sizeable run chase to claim the series 3-1 and avoid another drawn series in the UK, which would extend Australia's winless streak in the UK to 22 years.

Surprisingly, Smith has yet to register a fourth-innings Test hundred; of his 32 hundreds, 22 have come in the first innings, with six in the second and four in the third.

Steve Smith in each Test innings

 

First: 62 innings, 4,687 runs @ 85.21 | 22x100s, 11x50s. HS: 215

 

Second: 39 inns, 2,058 runs @ 55.62 | 6x100s, 11x50s. HS: 239

 

Third: 55 inns, 1,925 runs @ 42.77 | 4x100s, 12x50s. HS: 142

 

Fourth: 24 inns, 596 runs @ 28.38 | 0x100s, 4x50s. HS: 97

Smith's remarkable average of 85.21 in the first innings of Tests drops to 28.38 in the fourth, while he has not passed 40 in the final innings in his past 11 attempts stretching back to mid-2016. In 2014 against Pakistan in the UAE, he came within three runs of a fourth-innings hundred, scoring 97 as the Australians were thrashed.

While it is typical for the records of Test batters to trend downwards as a match wears on (Steve Waugh also did not manage a fourth-innings hundred among his 32), Smith will doubtless be hoping to seize upon the opportunity should it present itself in the final throes of this absorbing Ashes campaign.

In four-and-a-half Tests to date, he has scored 319 runs from nine innings at 35.44 – fewer than half the tally he managed in 2019 when he dominated the series to the tune of 774 runs in seven innings at 110.57, with three hundreds.

Against India in the World Test Championship final immediately preceding this Ashes series, he scored 121 and 34.

"I felt pretty good," Smith said of his day two performance. "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."

2023 Qantas Ashes Tour of the UK

First Test: Australia won by two wickets

Second Test: Australia won by 43 runs

Third Test: England won by three wickets

Fourth Test: Match drawn

Fifth Test: Thursday July 27-Monday 31, The Oval

Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Todd Murphy, Michael Neser, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, David Warner

England squad: Ben Stokes (c), Rehan Ahmed, James Anderson, Jonathan Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood