Steve Smith returned to international cricket after a year but he walked off the pitch at the Oval to a standing ovation after a stunning performance in the Ashes. He has scored a total of 774 runs in just seven innings and played a key role in his side’s two wins in the drawn Ashes series. His scores read 144 and 142 at Edgbaston, 92 at Lords, 211 and 82 at Old Trafford, and 80 and 23 at the Oval. Smith had a good campaign in the 50-over World Cup but did not set the world alight as Australia were beaten by eventual champions England in the semi-final.
When he was asked how he felt he was back to his best, Smith said it gave him confidence.
“That gave me a lot of confidence,” he said. “That was probably my favourite innings of the whole series that I played. The first Test match, as we know, is always incredibly important in an Ashes series and to sort of pull the team out of a bit of trouble at the time and give me that confidence straight up that I could slot back in and perform, that gave me a lot of confidence. It was a long 18 months out of the game and I’ve got a lot of people to thank, in particular my wife,” he added.
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His total runs is fifth on the list of the highest run-getters in an Ashes series. The man at the top of that list, inevitably, is Donald Bradman, who scored 974 in seven innings in 1930. Steve Smith averages 64.56 after 68 Tests, second only to Bradman in the all-time list. Bradman himself averaged a whopping 99.94 in his 52-Test career.
Smith said he appreciated the reaction from the crowd in England but he was disappointed not to have ended the series with more runs.
“It was a nice reception as I walked off,” he said. “It would have been nice if I’d had a few more runs under my belt in this game. I’ve given it my all since I’ve been here for the last four-and-a-half-months in every Test match that we’ve played and I didn’t have much left to give today. I’m pretty cooked to be honest, mentally and physically. I’m looking forward to a nice couple of weeks’ rest now before getting into the Australian summer,” Smith concluded.
