Last Updated on 5 months ago by Charbel Coorey
Steve Smith says he hopes he will be respected by Australian cricket fans after he retires. In an exclusive interview for Fox Cricket ahead of the Ashes, Smith shed light on some of the happiest and toughest moments of his career to date.
One of the questions asked by Mark Howard was how Smith would like to be remembered once he hangs up the boots from Test cricket. The great batsman, who currently has 10,477 runs at 56.02, says he hopes to have had a positive impact on people despite the controversies of the past.
Steve Smith hopes to be respected by Australian fans after he retires
“I’m not sure, I guess respected,” Smith said. “Hopefully that I’ve been able to have an impact on loads of results and you hear a lot of people say they try to leave the game in a better place than when they started and hopefully I’ve been able to do that along the period and help some young players come through.
“It’s a difficult question to answer, but respected is the word I’d look at.”
During the interview, Smith also revealed the learnings from Sandpapergate in 2018. He came back stronger than ever in 2019, putting together one of the greatest individual performances in an Ashes series.
“To have a close group of people to speak to and have honest conversations… I think that’s really important,” Smith said. “I guess being kind to yourself as well, so many things can go through your mind… just being kind to yourself and saying everything will be OK is important.
“People go through different phases in their life and difficult periods and stuff… having people or person you can speak to is important to help you get through difficult moments.”
Smith geared up for the 2025/26 Ashes series with a century for New South Wales against Queensland in the Sheffield Shield last week. Australia’s number four will be crucial to the team’s chances against England given the uncertainty around the top three plus Smith’s incredible record as captain and against England as a whole.
Smith, with 3,417 runs, is only behind Sir Donald Bradman, Sir Jack Hobbs and Allan Border in terms of runs in Ashes Tests. Also, Smith will lead the team in Pat Cummins’ absence, and embraces the role of captaincy. He has a batting average of 68.98 in 40 Tests as skipper compared to 49.90 in his remaining 79 matches.
