Steve Smith signs new three-year deal at Big Bash League's Sydney Sixers

Steve Smith could play in the Big Bash League (BBL) beyond his Test career as part of a new three-year deal to remain at Sydney Sixers.

It comes as Test teammates Marnus Labuschagne and Alex Carey re-sign with Brisbane Heat and Adelaide Strikers respectively ahead of the Twenty20 competition’s 14th edition.

The three Test stars are set to be available between the end of the Sydney Test against India and their departure for the Sri Lanka tour on January 21, also the first day of the BBL’s knockout stage.

Smith is set to be available for as many as four Sixers games, while Labuschagne’s Heat and Carey’s Strikers each have three games in that window.

Smith would theoretically be free to play a full BBL season, rather than just a cameo, if he chose to retire from Test cricket over the next three years.

Smith shapes as David Warner’s replacement at the top of the order this summer, having filled the spot on the two-Test tour of New Zealand in January, but will turn 36 next June.

“It’s fantastic news to have Steve commit to the club for the next three years,” said Sixers general manager Rachael Haynes.

“He’s one of the best players in the world and we know just how excited our members and fans will be to see him in pink in the coming seasons.”

Smith was a member of the Sixers side that won the first iteration of the BBL in 2012 but had been only sporadically available in the years before making a blistering cameo two summers ago.

He became the first male Sixers player to score a century, achieving the feat twice in a five-game cameo that earned him selection in the team of the tournament over the summer of 2022/23.

Snubbed from the squad for Australia’s T20 World Cup squad over winter, Smith last played T20 cricket for the Ricky Ponting-coached Washington Freedom in the Major League Cricket this July.

Labuschagne will join Brisbane, the reigning champions and his long-term BBL franchise, after India’s Australia tour concludes on January 7.

The idiosyncratic Test mainstay memorably hit 45 runs from 33 deliveries against Perth Scorchers last summer to help the Heat secure a spot in the qualifier as part of his two-game cameo.

“His game sense is exceptional and that is a huge asset to us on and off the field,” said new Heat coach Johan Botha.

Carey has signed a four-year deal with the Strikers, with whom the Test wicketkeeper has played all 56 BBL games of his eight-year career in the league.

Carey’s Strikers will be coached by his predecessor as Test wicketkeeper, Tim Paine, from this season.

David Warner (Sydney Thunder), Scott Boland (Melbourne Stars), Mitch Marsh (Perth Scorchers) and Nathan Lyon (Melbourne Renegades) are among the other former or current Test stars expected to turn out in the BBL this summer.

None of the so-called big three quicks - Josh Hazlewood, Mitch Starc and Pat Cummins - have signed with BBL sides to date and are likely to take much-needed breaks from bowling before Sri Lanka.