Australia No.4, who made his Test debut at the home of cricket and was concussed there four years ago, becomes fastest to 32 Test hundreds
Smith equals Waugh with latest chapter in Lord's story
Steve Smith now has only Ricky Ponting in his sights on Australia's all-time ton scoring charts as the star batter enhanced his glittering reputation with his 32nd Test hundred at Lord’s.
England's nightmares of a repeat Smith performance from his dominant 2019 Ashes tour resurfaced as the 33-year-old reached triple figures early on the second day of a series Australia lead 1-0 despite his dual failures in the opening match.
Resuming his innings 15 away from his second century at Lord’s, the quirky right-hander cracked the second new ball for a flurry of boundaries before a cover drive off Jimmy Anderson sealed the milestone.
With that, Smith, who celebrated with arms aloft, a kiss of the badge on his helmet and an embrace with Pat Cummins, had equalled Steve Waugh's mark of 32 Test hundreds, second all-time among Australians, with only Ponting (41) ahead of that pair.
No one has gotten to 32-ton mark faster than Smith, playing his 174th innings in his 99th Test.
It also sees Smith become the fourth Australian to have his name etched onto the home of cricket's prestigious Test batting honours board multiple times, joining Warren Bardsley (1912, 1926), Sir Don Bradman (1930, 1938) and Bill Brown (1934, 1938) to score multiple Test hundreds at Lord's.
It further adds to Smith's unique history at Lord's, a ground where he made his Test debut against Pakistan in 2010, where he blazed a mammoth 215 during the 2015 Ashes and where Jofra Archer concussed him in 2019 in one of the Ashes' most brutally memorable moments.
"I missed out last game so I was keen to make a few this game," Smith said at stumps having been dismissed for 110 in Australia's first innings of 416.
"It was a huge moment – I love playing here at Lord's, I spent a fair bit of time out in the middle the last two times (I played here) and then this game as well.
"It's a nice place to play if you get in. You get good value for your shots. It was nice to get myself back on the honours board again."
Coming off a rare double failure in Birmingham, Smith might have given England hope of avoiding the run-spree he put on four years ago on these shores when he blazed 774 runs at 111 in four Tests.
But Australia's No.4 charged out of the blocks when called to the crease after lunch on Wednesday and showed his quirky method remains a major threat to England.
Image Id: 25782AA6E90C49DABD5698B3157245E0Smith had gotten bogged down in his second innings of the first Test, scrapping to 16 from 59 balls before being pinned lbw in front of his stumps by Ben Stokes, but here showed a greater willingness to take his opponents on from the get-go.
He pulled second-gamer Josh Tongue in front of square for his first boundary, before back-to-back cover-driven fours off Stuart Broad saw him rocket along to have 24 runs from his first 15 deliveries.
Whether it was due to the scare of being given out caught behind off the very next ball he faced after his consecutive boundaries off Broad, immediately reviewing with success, or because the hosts just locked into a tighter line, but Smith then immediately slowed his scoring rate.
His next 100 balls yielded just 33 runs.
Yet, much like his match-defining partnership with Travis Head during the World Test Championship final against India earlier this month when he scored 121, Smith found the perfect foil in the daring left-hander who dominated the attention of England's bowlers.
Along the way, Smith passed 9,000 Test runs, with only Kumar Sangakkara getting to that milestone faster.
Image Id: 0DDFC2B13D214EBE9BE5CA2EC2900EC0When Smith did attack though, it was with no hesitation; an on-drive for four off Tongue was a glimpse of him at his very best as he went to stumps with the match firmly in his side's control.
"You know he's not going anywhere when a bloke averages 60 in Test cricket," Head, speaking to Channel Nine, said of batting with Smith after their rollicking 118-run partnership.
"Last week we spoke about not playing the way we would have liked, and that (on day one at Lord's) was the blueprint wasn't it?"
2023 Qantas Ashes Tour of the UK
First Test: Australia won by two wickets
Second Test: Wednesday June 28-Sunday July 2, Lord’s
Third Test: Thursday July 6-Monday July 10, Headingley
Fourth Test: Wednesday July 19-Sunday July 23, Old Trafford
Fifth Test: Thursday July 27-Monday 31, The Oval
Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Todd Murphy, Michael Neser, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, David Warner
England squad: Ben Stokes (c), James Anderson, Jonathan Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood