Clarke’s plan for Smith to prolong career

Steve Smith may need to spend time out of the nets and not training if he is to prolong his international career and prevent injuries, according to his predecessor Michael Clarke.

The Australian captain sat out Australia's training session at the SCG on Tuesday before the fifth Magellan Ashes Test, nursing a sore back after a marathon stint with the bat on the final day in Melbourne.

Clarke experienced back problems in his career and is concerned 28-year-old Smith may experience similar issues if he maintains his batting prowess.

Smith has topped 1,000 Test runs in each of the past four calendar years, and the runs haul has meant Australia's captain has faced more balls than any other player in Test cricket since 2014.

In total, he has faced more than 12,000 balls across all three international formats in that time.

"The key for him is going to be to sacrifice some training sessions so he can make sure he is still on the park as Australian captain," Clarke told the Nine Network.

"Because he loves hitting so many balls in the nets, he feels like that gives him the confidence to be able to walk out into the middle and play his natural game and play with that technique he has.

"I just feel over the next 12 months, he is going to have that down pat if he hasn't already."

Smith has previously expressed his desire to play across all three formats of the game for as long as possible, as opposed to Clarke who quit Twenty20 cricket on taking up the Test captaincy in 2010.

Smith is also understood to be keen to play in this summer's T20 tri-series against England and New Zealand, while a number of other long-form players are likely to be in South Africa preparing for the four-Test series which begins in March.

Despite his dominance in the longer form, Smith is still one of the best T20 players in the world and finished last year's Indian Premier League as the fourth highest run-scorer.

Smith is one of several leading Australian players in line for a handsome windfall in the next IPL auction at the end of January, with franchises able to shell out a maximum of $A16.28m on their squads – ten times the KFC Big Bash League cap.

Smith, who spent the past two seasons with the Rising Pune SuperGiant franchise, could be retained by the returning Rajasthan Royals outfit that is back after a two-year hiatus, and could be the but Clarke said the tournament could be the perfect time to take a step back. 

"I think for someone like Steve Smith, he'll asses on how he feels at the time," Clarke said. 

"If mentally and physically he feels fine, then I see no reason (not to keep going). As long as he's giving himself that time. 

"It might even be around training at the IPL. That might be a great time where he says, 'You know what, I don't want to captain that team and I'm not going to train at every session. Just give me a bit of a mental break and allow me to just bat'. 

"Some players – we're all very different – feel they get more benefit out of just batting in a game and not training. Other guys need that extra training to feel confident in their own game. 

"I think he knows his body and his game pretty well now, he'll just have to make those decisions as he goes."

2017-18 International Fixtures

Magellan Ashes Series

Australia Test squad: Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), Ashton Agar, Cameron Bancroft, Usman Khawaja, Peter Handscomb, Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Marsh, Tim Paine (wk), Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, Jackson Bird.

England Test squad: Joe Root (c), James Anderson (vc), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Gary Ballance, Stuart Broad, Alastair Cook, Mason Crane, Tom Curran, Ben Foakes, Dawid Malan, Craig Overton, Ben Stokes, Mark Stoneman, James Vince, Chris Woakes.

First Test Australia won by 10 wickets. Scorecard

Second Test Australia won by 120 runs (Day-Night). Scorecard

Third Test Australia won by an innings and 41 runs. Scorecard

Fourth Test Match drawn. Tickets

Fifth Test SCG, January 4-8 (Pink Test). Scorecard

Gillette ODI Series v England

First ODI MCG, January 14. Tickets

Second ODI Gabba, January 19. Tickets

Third ODI SCG, January 21. Tickets

Fourth ODI Adelaide Oval, January 26. Tickets

Fifth ODI Perth Stadium, January 28. Tickets

Prime Minister's XI

PM's XI v England Manuka Oval, February 2. Tickets

Gillette T20 trans-Tasman Tri-Series

First T20I Australia v NZ, SCG, February 3. Tickets

Second T20I – Australia v England, Blundstone Arena, February 7. Tickets

Third T20I – Australia v England, MCG, February 10. Tickets

Fourth T20I – NZ v England, Wellington, February 14

Fifth T20I – NZ v Australia, Eden Park, February 16

Sixth T20I – NZ v England, Seddon Park, February 18

Final – TBC, Eden Park, February 21