Steve Smith leaves his 2027 Ashes place open as he weighs a series-by-series future

Steve Smith has declined to commit to the 2027 Ashes in England, saying at 37 that he is taking his Test career one series at a time

Australia's most experienced batter has left his place on next year's tour of England open, telling The Telegraph that he is making no promises beyond the series in front of him. "I don't even know if I'll be there yet," Smith said. "I'm kind of a series-by-series proposition, as I've been for a while, and that's still a fair way away for me right now."

A tour of England in 2027 would offer him a first Ashes series win in that country. "I'd love to win one there or to have won one there, but you wait and see if that comes to fruition," he said.

His immediate assignment is nearer. Australia travel to South Africa in October for three Tests against the side that beat them in the World Test Championship final.

No end date on a long career

Smith has played 125 Tests and made 37 centuries, and he was clear that none of it comes with a finish line attached.

"I've achieved a lot in the game. It's been a great ride for the last 15 years or thereabouts. I've had a lot of fun. I'm still enjoying it, so I don't have an end date, we'll wait and see. But it's been a good ride," he said.

Asked what follows retirement, he was no more definite. "What's next for me when I finish? I'm not sure, but yeah, hopefully a bit more time left playing."

South Africa first, and 2018 left behind

The October series will be Smith's first Test tour of South Africa since the 2018 ball-tampering scandal, which cost him a 12-month international ban.

He gave the return no special weight. "For me, it's just another series," he said. "All that happened a long time ago, and we've played a lot of cricket and have been back to South Africa since then for one-dayers."

The cricket interests him more than the history. "They're a good side at the moment, obviously beat us in the World Test Championship final. They have a really good pace attack as well, so should be a cracker of a series."

Still ranked second in the world

The uncertainty is not a form question. Smith averages 49.4 over the last two years and sits second among men's Test batters, behind England's Harry Brook.

"I feel like I'm batting really nicely," he said. "I've found different ways to go about things on these tricky surfaces and still be able to score runs."

He framed the rest as service. "So trying to contribute as well as I can for the team, score runs, take catches, help out in leadership areas where I need to. It's been a good, fun couple of years."

An Olympic ambition in Los Angeles

What Smith will say he wants is a place at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, where cricket returns as a T20 competition. "Right now probably it's just the Olympics to try to be a part of that," he said.

That has shaped where he plays. He joined Amsterdam Flames in the European T20 Premier League for the same reason: "One of the reasons why I wanted to play with Amsterdam was just to continue playing as much T20 cricket as I can."

The short format, he suggested, will outlast the long one. "I still like to think I could play T20 cricket for a while."

What Australia have to plan around

Australia's Test calendar takes them away to South Africa, India and England, three of the hardest tours the game offers, and a batting order that has leaned on Smith for a decade faces all of them.

His answer does not close any of those doors. It simply declines to open them in advance, one series at a time, which leaves selectors planning around a batter who is still ranked among the world's two best.

Nothing in his remarks suggested a decision is near, only that it will not be made far ahead of the cricket.

Australia's three-Test tour of South Africa begins in October, and Smith's next answer will wait until that series is done.

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