Last Updated on 2 months by Charbel Coorey
Steve Smith has the goal of breaking into Australia’s high-performing T20I team. In an interview with CricBlog, Smith said he retired from one-day cricket to play in tournaments like The Hundred to put his name up for Australian T20 selection.
Smith also shed light on The Hundred and getting used to the format. Playing for Welsh Fire, Smith spoke about how the format presents interesting and unique challenges, before speaking on the Fire’s somewhat tricky start to their 2025 campaign.
Steve Smith interview: Talking Hundred, Australia’s T20I team and one of his best memories
The video and transcript of our interview with Steve Smith is below.
Q: Let’s go straight into The Hundred. I know it’s a competition you’ve always wanted to be a part of. It didn’t quite work out, I think, back in ’21. But clearly, it’s something you’ve always wanted to be involved in?
Steve Smith: Yeah, it’s been good to to get over here the last couple of weeks and get to know the guys. And, you know, obviously, we had a a good win the other night [against Manchester Originals]. We obviously didn’t start well two and 0 (no wins, two losses), but nice to get back on the horse the other day with a win. And, hopefully, we can carry that momentum into the the game out here tomorrow.
Q: It’s your first time playing in the competition, and we know it’s a it’s a slightly different format to T20s. We kind of got used to those sort of little nuances of five ball sets, the 10 balls from one end. Even the scoreboard sometimes kinda confuses me.
Steve Smith: First couple of games took a little bit of getting used to. You know, traditionally facing six balls in an over, going back to five was a little bit different. But, starting to get the hang of it now. So, it’s been good fun the first week here. I’ve enjoyed it and looking forward to the upcoming games as well.
Q: And just looking at the tournament as a whole and maybe kind of into the future, you know, lots of speculation about the fact that it might might well change for that next next year with the with the sort of new ownership that’s come in. Have you got a view on that? Would you like to sort of see it as it is or change?
Steve Smith: That’s above my pay grade. I’ve enjoyed playing in this format, though. It’s obviously something a little bit different to to T20, but it’s been great fun. You know, before coming over, a lot of people that have played this format before said it was it was a great tournament, great one to be involved in, and it’s been fun the first couple of weeks.
I think we we did some good things in the last game [against Manchester Originals], to to get the victory there. So, hopefully, we can take some confidence out of that and and keep moving forward. Things probably haven’t completely clicked particularly in the batting unit, I suppose. Guys are training hard, doing all the right things. So hopefully, we can put it together out here.
Q: Let’s talk about the batting unit and yourself also playing the batting with Jonny Bairstow. Clearly, you enjoy batting in partnership with him. How do you compliment each other?
Steve Smith: He’s been really good to start the tournament. I thought he he batted beautifully for his 80 odd the other night. You know, it’s been tricky up top at at Cardiff on that wicket. So, just to try and navigate through that as a partnership’s challenging. But, obviously, Jonny’s very experienced. He’s played a lot of cricket, and hopefully, he can keep having some success and and lighting it up top for us.
Q: I know you put on, I think, 62 in that first game in partnership with him. So so clearly, there’s there’s there’s good understanding there between you and I’m guessing, all the chat about run outs, that’s all sort of water under the bridge?
Steve Smith: Yeah, just business as usual. So, no, he’s he’s been really good. I’ve enjoyed batting with him so far, and, hopefully, we can, you know, keep keep this partnership together and and have some success with the with the team.
Q: So let’s zoom out a little bit. Obviously, you know, we got there’s always a big ICC competition around the corner, isn’t there? And there’s a World Cup coming up next year. And I know you’ve sort of said previously, you know, one of your ultimate ambitions is to kind of get get your name back in the frame there?
Steve Smith: That’s the goal. I’ve stopped playing one day cricket to give myself some more opportunities to play in tournaments like this one [The Hundred]. And, just got to try and keep scoring runs, and put my name up there as much as I can.
Q: Just kind of rewinding back to almost the start for you. I mean, just thinking about sort of earliest cricket memories, what would you say was was kind of one of your earliest?
Steve Smith: Not too sure. I’ve pretty fond memory here actually, getting my first ever Test hundred. Hitting a six down the ground off Johnathan Trott to bring that up. So, yeah, that was a pretty nice.
Q: I know you you obviously have very deep English connections through your home. And you played a bit of club cricket out there for Kent a little while ago. Was there ever a consideration that, you know, you might end up playing for the other team [England] as it were?
No, not really. I was always pretty set on playing for Australia. I enjoyed my stint over here and playing club cricket and, yeah. But, no, always ambitions to play for Australia.
