No 'age profile' concerns as Aussies eye elusive Test tours

Test series wins in England and India remain on Steve Smith's "bucket list" but the star batter is refusing to commit himself for those tours next year.

Smith, 36, and Mitch Starc, 35, will be among the key players central to Australia's plans for those two massive tours in 2027, destinations that haven't seen Aussie wins for over two decades.

Australia's comprehensive 4-1 Ashes victory was won by a squad of almost exclusively 30-somethings, a stat that drew criticism prior to the series.

The XIs fielded throughout the series were the Australia's oldest teams since 1928, coming in at an average age of just shy of 34 years.

"There was so much made about our age profile," Starc said on Thursday night, after winning the Compton-Miller Medal as the best player in the Ashes.

"At times through this series, that experiences has been a really good thing in some moments in this series.

"We've seen guys prove that if you're still playing your role, or if you're still good enough, it shouldn't matter how old you are."

With the urn secure, the attention of the Australian brains trust will now turn to ensuring their star veterans are available for a hectic period for the Test team that culminates with another Ashes campaign in around 18 months time.

From the point that the red-ball side returns to action against Bangladesh in August, the Aussies will play 20 Tests in the next 12 months, which would become 21 if they qualify for the World Test Championship final.

Either side of the potential WTC Final in the middle of 2027 is an away tour – to India (January-March) and the Ashes (likely July-September).

In Sydney, 39-year-old Usman Khawaja was the first of the senior group to call it quits, announcing his retirement after 88 Tests having been a fixture in the XI for the past four years.

Nathan Lyon, 38, Scott Boland, 36, Smith, 36, Starc, 35, Josh Hazlewood 35 and Alex Carey, 34, are the next oldest of the first-choice players and it's the availability of Smith that looms as the most critical in Australia's hunt for away success in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and Ashes.

Smith has been comfortably Australia's best batter of the past decade in both India (averaging 53.66) and in England (averaging 65.76) and has shown no signs of his on-field performance diminishing.

But Smith is not prepared to lock himself in for either of those trips, saying that his final day as a cricketer could be right around the corner.

"It's something that was always on my bucket list," Smith said after Australia clinched a five-wicket victory in Sydney.

"I would love to have won in India and England. That's the two big away tours for us.

"Whether I'll be there or not, as I've said numerous times, I'm not sure.

"We'll see. I'll take it day by day, game by game. One day I might wake up and say I've had enough."

Starc, who turns 36 at the end of January, is enjoying some of the best form of his career.

The left-arm quick had never previously been awarded a player-of-the-series award throughout his 15-year Test career; he's now got two in a row, winning the accolade in the West Indies and the Ashes.

Starc retired from T20 internationals late last year in a bid to prolong his Test and ODI career, saying at the time he had the 2027 ODI World Cup in his sights.

He was quick to point out to reporters at the SCG that Scott Boland is the oldest bowler of the group (Boland is nine months his senior) and conceded he does hold out some hope of participating, alongside Smith, in India and England.

"If we both get to go on those tours in '27, it'd be lovely to tick them off," Starc said.

Australia's upcoming schedule

August: Two Tests v Bangladesh (home)

 

September-October: Three Tests v South Africa (away)

 

December-January: Four Tests v New Zealand (home)

 

January-March: Five Tests v India (away)

 

March: One Test v England, 150th anniversary (home)

 

June: WTC Final (neutral) – if Australia qualify

 

July-September: Five Tests v England (away)

2025-26 NRMA Insurance Men's Ashes

First Test: Australia won by eight wickets

Second Test: Australia won by eight wickets

Third Test: Australia won by 82 runs

Fourth Test: England won by four wickets

Fifth Test: Australia won by five wickets

Australia squad (fifth Test): Steve Smith (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Brendan Doggett, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Todd Murphy, Michael Neser, Jhye Richardson, Mitchell Starc, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster

England squad: Ben Stokes (c), Harry Brook (vc), Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Matthew Fisher, Will Jacks, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (wk), Josh Tongue