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Key Takeaways
- 1📊 Australia seal the Ashes 4-1 with a five-wicket win in Sydney
- 2🏆 One of the oldest XIs in Test history still targets 2027 Ashes
- 3💡 Steven Smith, 38 by 2027, is unsure he will tour England again
- 4🔮 Australia must balance chasing history with planning a smooth transition
"One of the oldest teams in Test history completed a 4-1 series win but they have an eye on an elusive away Ashes win"
Stand-in skipper Steven Smith has one eye firmly on the 2027 Ashes in England, even as he openly wonders whether his own body and motivation will stretch that far for an away shot at history.
One of Test cricket’s oldest XIs eyes one last great heist
Fresh from wrapping up a 4-1 home Ashes win with a clinical five-wicket victory in Sydney, Australia posed with the urn as one of the oldest Test XIs ever fielded. Ten members of the side are already past 30, a rarity in modern cricket, where workloads and franchise leagues tend to push teams younger.
Smith, who will be 38 by the time the 2027 series begins, spoke of a dressing room still burning to tick off the one missing chapter of their era: an Ashes win in England. Yet he stopped short of guaranteeing his presence, hinting at the realities of age, form and the pull of family and T20 leagues.
For Aussie fans, this is a golden generation that has done almost everything – World Test Championship, World Cups, home Ashes dominance – but that elusive away Ashes still nags. For Indian fans used to seeing Team India manage its own ageing greats, the question feels familiar: how long do you back legends before transition becomes unavoidable?
The next two years will be fascinating. Can this core stay fit and hungry enough to chase one final marquee prize, or will 2027 mark the handover to a younger Australian Test side?
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