Unlike Warner, who signalled his retirement plans well in advance, Smith has shown no indication of when he intends to walk away from the game.
Steve Smith's short-lived stint as a Test opener came to an end Monday with confirmation he will drop down the Australian batting order against India next month, while all-rounder Cameron Green was ruled out of the series.
Smith has been a rock in Australia's middle-order for more than a decade, but was moved up to an unfamiliar role at the top alongside Usman Khawaja with mixed success when fellow veteran David Warner retired from Test cricket at the start of the year.
Veteran Australia batsman Steve Smith says he has no plans to wind down his cricket career having signed a long-term deal to play in the Big Bash League (BBL) with the Sydney Sixers.
Selectors opted for a second spinner in Ashton Agar and picked Cameron Green as a back-up all-rounder while remaining loyal to the core of players who helped Australia win an unprecedented sixth 50-over World Cup in India last November.
Smith, who has played just four Twenty20 internationals for Australia since the start of 2023, went unsold at the Indian Premier League auction held in December last year. He competed for the Sydney Sixers in the 2023-24 Big Bash League (BBL).
"If you bring in a new opener and you gave them four Test matches, and then said, 'okay, we're going to shift that after four Test matches', would you think that's fair or unfair?"
Smith finished unbeaten on 79 off 79 balls and Green was 77 not out as Australia cruised to the winning target of 232 with 11.3 overs to spare
"There was a lot of commentary around I’d failed in two or three innings or whatever it was," Smith told reporters in Melbourne on Wednesday.
Australia batter Steve Smith and fast bowler Mitchell Starc have been ruled out of the white-ball series in South Africa through injuries, but both are expected to be back in action in India next month.
Steve Smith will open the batting when Australia meet South Africa in an upcoming Twenty20 series, selectors said, putting him in the box seat to do the job alongside David Warner at next year's World Cup.
But when Smith takes the field at Yorkshire's headquarters on Thursday for the third match of the Ashes series he will be winning his 100th cap as arguably the outstanding batsman of his generation
"Hopefully I won't have to bowl too much," he told reporters, having stepped in just before the close of the second day of the second Ashes test to relieve Australia's tired fast bowlers following an injury to their regular spinner Nathan Lyon
As commentator Daniel Norcross told the BBC: "He is the scourge of the English. He is the modern-day Bradman."
The WTC final and Ashes series are taking place amid fears the future of the long-format game could be threatened by the growth of global franchise Twenty20 cricket, with top players set to be offered year-round contracts across multiple leagues
"Namaste, India. I've got some exciting news for you: I'm joining IPL 2023," Smith, 33, said in the video posted on his social media pages on Monday.
Starc, rattled the Indian batting with his pace and swing to bundle out the opposition for 117 in 26 overs in Visakhapatnam
Paine led Australia between 2018 and 2021 after Steve Smith was stripped of the captaincy in the wake of the "Sandpaper-gate" ball-tampering incident against South Africa.
Smith will stand in for Pat Cummins, who returned home after leading Australia in the first two Test matches to care for his ailing mother who died last week.