Steven Smith's century of Tests in pictures
Steven Smith earned his first baggy green alongside Tim Paine against Pakistan at Lord's 2010, debuting as a legspinner, one of the many Australia trialled to step into the void left by Shane Warne. •Getty Images
An Ashes debut followed later that year, but his first fifty against England disappeared into the shadows of Australia's 3-1 series loss. It would be two years before he was called up to the Test squad again.•Getty Images
By his own admission, Steven Smith the batter didn't take shape until his fourth hundred, against South Africa in Centurion in 2014, which rescued Australia from 98 for 4 to set up an unlikely victory. •Getty Images
When Michael Clarke stepped down from the captaincy after Australia's 3-2 Ashes loss in 2015, Smith was the natural choice to lead the side, and he also embarked on the purplest of his purple patches. •Getty Images
Smith became only the second batter to score over a thousand runs in each of four consecutive calendar years. He capped this brilliant run with a 4-0 Ashes victory at home in 2017-18, earning himself the unofficial sobriquet of a "modern-day Bradman".•Getty Images
Smith's return to cricket was a trial by fire at Edgbaston in the 2019 Ashes. England's fans turned out at their antagonistic best, but if Smith heard any of the taunts coming his way, it didn't show in his performance.•Mike Egerton/PA Photos/Getty Images
But even greats have their slumps. After the 2019 Ashes, Smith form took a dip, with just two hundreds in 29 innings, but his 145 not out in Galle in June 2022 seemed to open the floodgates again.•AFP
Smith goes into his 100th Test with 9113 runs at an average of 59.56, and as the fourth highest run-scorer in the Ashes so far, after Bradman, Jack Hobbes and Allan Border. And he's nowhere close to done.•Stu Forster/Getty Images
He had middling returns in his first Test, picking up three wickets for 51 runs, and little to no impact with the bat, scoring 1 and 12 from Nos. 8 and 9.•Getty Images
Smith had Homeworkgate to thank for his next appearance for Australia. With Shane Watson, Mitchell Johnson, James Pattinson and Usman Khawaja sent home, Smith stepped in at No. 6 in Mohali to score a considered 92.•BCCI
Smith had his first taste of captaincy during India's 2014-15 tour of Australia, when Michael Clarke had to sit out the series with an injury. At 25 years and 198 days, Smith became the third-youngest Australian to take the mantle, after Ian Craig and Kim Hughes.•Ryan Pierse/Cricket Australia/Getty Images
Between 2014 and 2018, Smith scored 5004 runs in 79 innings, at a scarcely believable average of 75.81. No other batter had as many runs at as good an average - Joe Root was next on the list with 4605 runs at 57.56. •Getty Images
But all of that came to a screeching halt in 2018. An already acrimonious series in South Africa boiled over with the Sandpapergate scandal at Newlands. The ICC only slapped a one-match ban on Smith, who was captain, but worse was to come.•Gallo Images/Getty Images
He announced his return with possibly his best Test performance, as rated by his team-mates, scoring 142 and 144 in consecutive innings in that Test. •Getty Images
In the WTC final against India in June 2023, Smith's 285-run partnership with Travis Head in the first innings - both batters made hundreds - put Australia firmly in the driver's seat and led them to their first-ever WTC title.•Getty Images
His first Test hundred came in his second Ashes series, where he scored an unbeaten 138 at The Oval, though it came in yet another series loss for Australia. •Getty Images
Having moved up to No. 3, Smith was the top scorer of the 2015 Ashes, with 508 runs from nine innings, and his first double-hundred, but an Ashes victory in England remained elusive. •Getty Images
Smith was also the top scorer in the fractious 2016-17 Border-Gavaskar Trophy in India, his 499 runs - with three hundreds - coming at an average of 71.28. The only other batter to go past 400 in the series was Cheteshwar Pujara, with 408. •Associated Press
Smith, Warner and Cameron Bancroft's attempts at ball-tampering in Cape Town triggered the biggest overhaul of Australia's cricket culture. Cricket Australia banned Smith for a year across all forms of cricket, and his career looked like it had possibly ended. •Getty Images
Despite copping a blow to head and having to sit out the Test at Headingley with concussion, Smith finished with 774 runs in the 2019 Ashes - the most he had scored in any Ashes series - helping Australia retain the urn. •Ryan Pierse/Getty Images
At Lord's, in the thick of a febrile second Ashes Test, Smith scored his 32nd Test hundred, drawing level with Steve Waugh for the second most Test centuries. It also brought up his 9000th Test run, making him the fastest to the landmark by number of Tests - 99. •Associated Press
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