Test Cricket, undoubtedly is the toughest format of the game that challenges every aspect of a player’s game. When we talk about Test cricket today, the first name that springs to mind is Steve Smith. The batting maestro of Australia, Steven Peter Devereux Smith turns 31 today. As he celebrates his birthday we take an in-depth look at his remarkable Test career.
Throughout his career, he has gone from “The next Shane Warne” to “The best since Don Bradman”. A transformation of the ages as Smith today stands at the pinnacle of Test match batsman. David Gower during the last year of Ashes described him as a “determined fidget”. A remark that perfectly describes his batting when he is playing in whites. He rarely throws his wicket away and he is always a step ahead of the bowlers.
With his unusual stance bowlers look to bowl at him wide outside his off stump. Smith realises it and leaves deliveries all day so that they ultimately bowl at his scoring areas.
Happy Birthday Steve Smith
The bowlers then bowl at him on his pads and that is where he is at home as he keeps flicking them at will. Against the spinners, he would see the ball above his eye level and dance down the track to hit the ball anywhere he wants. In short, Steve Smith has no weakness as a Test match batsman. He has scored a hundred on an absolute minefield in Pune against a quality spin bowling attack of India. When he returned to Test cricket after the ball-tampering saga in front of a hostile Edgbaston crowd, he defied the odds and scored two of the finest Test match centuries of all time.
Steve Smith Test career in Numbers
Overall Test record: 131 innings, 7227 runs @ 62.84, 26 100s, 239 Highest score
At Home in Australia: 57 innings, 3344 runs, 71.15 average, 13 100s.
Away from home: 74 innings, 3883 runs, 57.10 average, 13 100s.
In won matches: 39 matches, 4455 runs, 81 average, 18 100s
In won matches away from home: 13 matches, 2064 runs, 108.63 average, 9 100s
As captain: 34 matches, 3659 runs, 70.36 average, 15 100s
Batting record in Ashes: 27 matches, 2800 runs, 65.12 average, 11 100s
Against India: 10 matches, 1429 runs, 84.06 average, 7 100s
These dream numbers tell a conclusive story that when it comes to red-ball cricket, Smith is in a league of his own. If you apply “Genius” to sportsmen you would apply it to Steve Smith. The unorthodox batting genius just can’t stop scoring runs in the longest format. He has an appetite for runs that very few have ever had in the history of Test match cricket. Who would have imagined that a leg spinner who batted down the order, will end up becoming the finest Test batsman of our time?
In an era where T 20 cricket is given primary importance, Steve Smith made people fall in love with Test cricket once again. He has managed to capture the imagination of the world through his artistic batting in the greatest format of our game.
A very Happy Birthday, Steve Smith, let’s hope he continues to raise the bar of Test batting for batsmen all around the world.
