Cricket Australia poised to give Steve Smith green light for T20 stint between Test appearances
Steve Smith is set to return to the United States for a brief T20 stint during June despite an overlap with Australia’s tight Test schedule while a bolter is set to be named for Australia A.
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Steve Smith is likely to play two matches in the US between Test appearances next month with Cricket Australia poised to give the green light for the all-time great to head to America before joining teammates in the West Indies.
Smith is again contracted to play for Major League Cricket’s Washington Freedom, where he played last year. In 2024, a host of top Australian players including Smith, Pat Cummins, Travis Head, Alex Carey and Josh Inglis ventured to the US for the league in what was an empty window for the Aussie national side.
Things are different this time around, with MLC overlapping with the World Test Championship final and all three Tests in the Caribbean.
However that has not deterred Smith, who is planning on joining Washington for a brief stint ahead of the first Test after the WTC decider against South Africa at Lord’s.
The WTC final is due to finish on June 15 (UK time), before the Frank Worrell Trophy series commences in Barbados on June 25 (Barbados time).
While still subject to change, it’s understood CA is leaning towards giving Smith the green light to play for defending champions Freedom against the Los Angeles Knight Riders in Oakland on June 17 (US time), and against MI New York in Dallas on June 21 (US time), before heading to Bridgetown to rejoin the Aussies.
Smith, as a specialist batter, has been given greater latitude than several other Test players to play T20 cricket in between Test appearances.
He played three matches for the Sydney Sixers in January between the end of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series against India and the Test series in Sri Lanka, where he starred in a 2-0 romp.
In contrast, Head did not play for the Adelaide Strikers in that gap and is not returning to the MLC this year, although he continues to play for the Indian Premier League’s Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Smith, who spends much of his spare time in the US, has also retired from one-day international cricket, allowing him to play for the Welsh Fire in the UK’s The Hundred competition that coincides with a one-day series against the Proteas.
Meanwhile, national selectors are set to name 18-year-old Victorian batting prodigy Ollie Peake for an Australia A series against Sri Lanka A in Darwin in July.
Peake, who toured Sri Lanka with the Test squad as a development player, is set to feature in a weakened Australia A squad unlikely to include players currently having county stints in England.
It’s believed selectors will pick a more experienced Australia A squad for a tour of India later in the year.
Jason Sangha is likely to be rewarded for his Sheffield Shield heroics with South Australia with inclusion in the squad, alongside former Australian quick Billy Stanlake, Jake Weatherald, Campbell Kellaway, Liam Scott, Bryce Jackson, Mitch Perry, Nathan McSweeney and Henry Thornton.
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Originally published as Cricket Australia poised to give Steve Smith green light for T20 stint between Test appearances
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