Exclusive: Former Coach Reveals Why Aussie Star Steve Smith Can Still Dominate T20 at the 2028 Olympics

After retiring from ODIs, Australian batting great Steven Smith is keen to represent his country at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, where cricket returns in the T20 format. 

Though the 36-year-old has been out of favour in the format, not even considered for the last World Cup in the USA and the Caribbean islands, he is hopeful of a comeback.

To polish his skills in the shorter formats, Smith made his debut at The Hundred for Welsh Fire this season, hoping some of his heroics with the bat would catch the attention of Australia's head coach, Andrew McDonald.

Smith's power with the bat holds him in good standing. The six he smashed off Manchester Originals' Josh Tongue up and over cover point was a perfect example of a lofted square drive.

The power of Smith's bat

Experienced international coach Trent Woodhill, who worked with Smith in his early days, highlighted why the Australian Test vice-captain could still be a force in T20Is. 

"He is one of the great problem-solvers on the cricket field. What sets him apart from his peers is his ability to assess game situations and plan accordingly to negotiate. He plays both fast bowlers and spinners well, and he has more power. Cricket is either a power game or a touch game. He hit a six over cover in one of the games at The Hundred. It's the power which lets him hit the ball all over the park," he told SportsBoom.com. 

Woodhill, also a High Performance consultant with Cricket Australia and at The Hundred run by the England and Wales Cricket Board, felt Smith did not get his due as a short-form cricketer. 

"He is a bit underrated as a T20 cricketer. He is such a good Test player and an ODI player. I think sometimes franchise cricket misreads you. If I were in an Indian Premier League franchise, I would have backed him to open the batting. You would want to fit him in a squad, surely," he added.

Smith played 67 T20Is for Australia with 1,094 runs under his belt, inclusive of five fifties, at a strike rate of 125.45. His last appearance in the format came in February 2024 against New Zealand in Auckland.

On the franchise cricket front, he has 2,485 runs in the IPL, including a century, and 1,199 in the Big Bash League with three centuries.

With only 78 runs in five outings, he is yet to make an impact at The Hundred.

Catching and fielding

Not just batting, but Smith's presence on the field makes a huge difference as he is constantly plotting and planning. Needless to say, he has been a fantastic catcher, too. In Tests, he has 201 catches and is fourth in the list of all-time great catchers; a list topped by Joe Root with 213 catches.

He has already taken six catches in five outings at The Hundred. Overall, he has 53 IPL and 21 BBL catches, apart from the 41 catches for Australia in the format. 

"He always goes an extra yard. His catching is first-class, which anyone in world cricket would say. His field positioning and knowing when to backtrack outside the circle come with the problem-solving part," said Woodhill, who has also worked with Indian legend Virat Kohli at the Royal Challengers Bangalore, where he was the batting talent development and fielding coach for five seasons.

Woodhill is a respected figure in the cricketing world for his new-age thinking and innovation. He had invented the X-factor and Power Surge rule in the BBL. After working for years in T20 cricket, he felt the future lies with The Hundred and that T20 is now "overrated".

"It should be The Hundred at the Olympics. The sport is getting shorter. T10 is more of a batting game and no bowling game, but The Hundred offers a proper bat-ball contest, and not just a bowling machine to batters. If I were running the Olympics, I would have had The Hundred at the event," said Woodhill, who has also worked with Pakistan and New Zealand.

Cricket's only appearance at the Olympics came in 1900 in Paris when Great Britain beat France by 158 runs.