Don smith
Steven Peter Devereux Smith (born 2 June 1989) is an Australian international cricketer, and currently the captain of the Australia national cricket team across all three formats. He also represents New South Wales Blues, and Sydney Sixers in domestic cricket.[3]Although he was initially selected for Australia as an all-rounder who could bowl right-arm leg spin,[4] Smith now plays primarily as a batsman.[5] On 18 December 2017 he reached a Test batting rating of 945, the second highest of all time [6] along with Len Hutton.
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As of December 2017, Smith is the top-ranked Test batsman in the world, according to theICC Player Rankings.[7] Smith was the leading run scorer in 2014–15 Border-Gavaskar Trophy series against India. In 2015, he won the Allan Border Medal for the best player in Australian Cricket. In June 2015, he was moved up to the coveted no. 3 spot in the Test batting order for the series against the West Indies and the 2015 Ashes series, a position previously held by Ricky Ponting.[8]After taking over full-time captaincy of the national team, Smith generally batted at no. 3 until recently, as that position is currently occupied by Usman Khawaja. Though Smith covered for him again in the inaugural day-night Test match in Adelaide, he moved back to the no. 4 spot in the batting order, following Khawaja's return from injury.
On 23 December 2015, Smith was awarded the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for being named the ICC Cricketer of the Year as well as Test Cricketer of the Year for the 2014–15 season.[9]
In 2014, Martin Crowe described Smith as one of the young Fab Four of Test Cricket along with Joe Root, Kane Williamson and Virat Kohli.[10][11]
Early life
Smith was born in Sydney to an Australian father, Peter, who has a degree in chemistry and works with pigments and waxes,[12] and an English mother, Gillian.[13] He was educated at Menai High School, but at the age of 17 he dropped out of the Higher School Certificate (HSC) to play cricket in England.[14][15]
Steven played junior cricket with Illawong Menai Cricket Club (formerly Illawong Cricket Club). His first season was 1994/95 where he played in the under 8's. Steven played 11 seasons with the club, his last season being the under 16As (2004/05 season) in which he only played 3 games due to his commitment with the Sutherland Grade Club. During his time at the club, he won their "Junior Cricketer of the Year" award twice. This occurred in the 1998/99 season as a member of the Under 10As and 2002/03 season as a member of the Under 14As who also won the U14A's Premiership that year. Steven was a member of 6 premiership winning teams in his time at Illawong.[citation needed]
Steven's first century was in the 1998/99 season at Casuarina Oval, Alfords Point, with a score of 124*. He scored a total of 6 centuries with a high score of 141* as a member of the 14As in the 2002–03 season. Steven scored a total of 2,399 runs for the club at an average of 44.43 (excluding the two years in the under 8s as statistics were not kept for the under 8s). He also took 100 wickets at an average of 8.18 and took 50 catches.[citation needed]
Domestic cricket career
Smith made his first-class debut againstWestern Australia at the SCG on 24 January 2008. He scored 33 in his only innings as NSW defeated WA outright.[16]
One of his earliest achievements was being the leading wicket taker at the 2008 KFC Big Bash tournament . This was despite only playing four out of the five games. He took 4/15 against Queensland and finished with 9 wickets overall.[17] Due to his efforts, he was named the second best player of the tournament.[18]
He was part of the New South Wales team that won the 2009 Twenty20 Champions League. In the final against Trinidad and Tobago at Hyderabad, Smith made 33 with the bat and took two wickets.[19]
By the end of the 2009–10 domestic season Smith had a first-class batting average of over 50 after just 13 first-class matches. While his first-class bowling average in the high forties was not as impressive, his bowling appeared to be steadily improving following some well-publicised mentoring and high praise fromShane Warne.[20] In the final match of the season he took 7 for 64 in the second innings against South Australia.[21]
2009–2011: Early International career and debut
Smith playing for Australia in 2015
Steve Smith made his international cricket debut in a T20 international match playing as a leg spinner against Pakistan at Melbourne in February 2010. The same month, he made his one-day international debut against the West Indies also at Melbourne, playing in the fifth match of the series.[22]
In the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 competition held in the West Indies, Australia finished runners up to England. Smith took 11 wickets in seven matches at an average of 14.81 to finish as the equal second highest wicket-taker of the tournament.[23]
Smith made his Test debut at Lords in July 2010, playing both Tests against Pakistan in the 2010 Test series played in England.[22] He was selected mainly for his bowling, and batted down the order, although his bowling was not required in the first innings. In the second innings, he took 3 wickets for 51 as Australia won by 150 runs.[24] In the second Test he was called to bowl only ten overs and took no wickets, although he played an impressive role with the bat in the second innings. Batting with the tail, he scored 77 including nine fours and two sixes off successive balls, helping Australia to set a competitive target after having been bowled out for 88 in the first innings.[25]
Smith's fielding attracted attention during the 2009–10 season with some spectacular catches in the outfield.[26]
In the 2010–11 Australian summer, Smith played three Tests in the 2010–11 Ashes series, this time playing more as a batsman, taking the number six spot in the order. His performances were solid during the series, getting a number of starts and scoring two half centuries. Following the 2010–11 Ashes, Smith did not play another Test for two years, his next Test series coming against India in March 2013.
2013–15: Return and breakthrough
Tour to India and Back to Back Ashes 2013–14
Australia was scheduled to visit India for four Tests and after 17 months of playing in domestic cricket, improving his batting technique and skill, Smith was later called up in a 17-man squad tour to the India. He was called up as a backup batsman instead of the allrounder role he was originally assigned.[27]Smith made his first return to the main squad in the third Test in Mohali, following the incident of Mickey Arthur, the coach of Australia during the Test series in India sent four players home due to not "doing their homework".[28][29][30] In his first match innings in India he scored 92 before being stumped by Dhoni from a delivery by Pragyan Ojha, and in the second innings he later scored 5 runs.[31]In the final Test match at Delhi, Smith made 46 and 18 runs respectively but was unable to win the Test match as India secured a 4–0 win against Australia.
Following Australia's 4–0 horror defeat in India, Australia's next series was against England in the British Isles in July. Although the squad for the 2013 Ashes were finalised in April, Smith was the vice-captain of Australia's A team and was later called into the main squad after showing some promise in the Australia's A tour to the United Kingdom in June where he made 133 runs against Ireland in Belfast but also as a backup batsman due to Michael Clarke's fitness concerns.[32][33] He played his first-class tour match with the main squad on 2 July 2013 in Worcester making 111 runs in both innings combined. In the first Test match at Trent Bridge he made a half century in his first innings but fell cheaply in the second innings getting out lbw by Graeme Swann. While making little impact at Lord's, Smith produced a century at Hove against Sussex on 27 July.[34]
In the third Test being 2–0 down to England, Australia moved up north to Old Trafford Cricket Ground in Manchester needing to win or draw to save the series. Smith made 89 and 19 runs respectively, but the third Test match stirred controversy about the on-field umpire's decisions and DRS (Decision Review System) causing Smith to surivive in two occasions and his teammate Usman Khawajato be dismissed.[35][36] In the final Test, Smith scored his maiden Test century, which he achieved in the first innings of the last Test of the series at The Oval,[31] reaching the total in style by hitting a six off the bowling ofJonathan Trott. He became only the sixth Australian to reach his maiden Test 100 with a six.[37] At the end of the series, the urn was retained by England after winning the series 3–0. Smith scored 345 runs at an average of 38.33, but his recent rise back to the squad cemented his place back into the main Test squad.
Smith was called in the Ashes XI squad for the first Test in Brisbane.[38] Despite a slow start in the first and second Test, Smith produced his first Test century on home soil in the third Test at Perth helping Australia display a total of 6–326 at stumps on the second day to later win the Test match and be awarded man of the match.[39][40] In the fourth Test he was dismissed at 19 by Stuart Broadbut later on made another century in the final Test at the SCG, alongside with the partnership with Brad Haddin, helping Australia come back from 5–97 to 326 all out in the first innings and went on to win the Test match by 281 runs.[41][42] The victory in Sydney marked a 5–0 whitewash victory towards Australia after a dismal 3–0 loss during the winter period of 2013. Steve Smith made two centuries and produced 327 runs at an average of 36. Smith played just one ODI match during England's tour during 2013–14, in the 4th ODI at Perth where he made only 19 runs.
Tour of South Africa 2014
Following a 5–0 victory against England in the Ashes, Australia were scheduled three Test matches and three T20 matches in South Africa. Despite their initial first-class game against the South African Invitational XI at Senwes Park, Potchefstroom did not occur, Steve Smith made his fourth century and first in South Africa in the first Test at Centurion, Johannesburg where he and Shaun Marshmade a 233 run partnership from 4–98.[43]The first innings partnership saw the Australians win by 281 runs.[44] The second Test in Port Elizabeth saw a slower pitch as Smith made 49 and a duck and South Africa levelled the series 1–1. In the deciding Test match in Cape Town, Smith made 89 runs in the first innings and finished 36 not out in the second innings as Australia won the series 2–1.[45] Steve Smith produced 269 runs at an average of 67.55, the third best in the series and the second best by an Australia, second to David Warner.
Tri Series in Zimbabwe and UAE 2014
The five-month break of cricket activity saw a surprise pick of Smith called up for the 2014 Zimbabwe Tri-Series on the August 2014. Smith prior to the tour had two ODI matches in the last two years.[46] In his first match against Zimbabwe, he was run out by Sikandar Raza. He made scores in his thirties in his participating matches but only made 10 runs in the final against South Africa on 6 September, where South Africa went on to win the Tri-Series.
The squad later travelled to the UAE to face Pakistan in a T20 Match, three ODIs and two Tests. In the first and only T20 match, Smith made three runs before being dismissed and later won the single T20 match. Following the T20 matchup was 3 ODIs. In the first ODI atSharjah Cricket Stadium, Smith made his first ODI century scoring 101 runs off 118 balls to push the visitors to a 1–0 lead in the series.[47] In the second ODI he made 12 runs and in the 3rd and final ODI he made 77 runs off 105 balls to win the ODI match by 1 run. However, during the match, Steve Smith's catch on Fawad Alam questioned whether his catch was within the ICC laws. The incident occurred when in the 18th over of Pakistan's chase of 231 where Xavier Doherty delivered the ball and before Fawad made contact with his paddle sweep, Smith had moved from first slip towards leg slip to intercept the shot. The legality of the catch continued to be the main talking point after the ODI Series and afterwards ICC made a press statement stating that: "As long as the movement of a close catching fielder is in response to the striker’s actions (the shot he/she is about to play or shaping to play), then movement is permitted before the ball reaches the striker. On the day, if umpires believe any form of significant movement is unfair (in an attempt to deceive the batsman), then the Law still applies.” [48][49] The win saw Australia rise back to number one in the ICC ODI Rankings and Steve Smith was made man of the series for his batting performances.[50]
Transitioning into the Test series saw Australia's continued failure against reverse swing and spin in the subcontinent. In the warm-up match against Pakistan A in Sharjah, Australia lost by 153 runs where Smith made 58 but retired out.[51] In the first Test match in Dubai, Smith made 22 runs in the first innings and 55 runs in the second innings but collectively lost the Test match by 221 runs. In the second Test, Smith made a duck and 97 runs but Australia's woes against spin continues as Australia lose by 356 runs.[52] In the series he made 174 runs at an average of 43.5 runs.
India, South Africa and World Cup success 2014–15
Arriving back from the subcontinent following their 2–0 Test defeat against Pakistan. Smith played 4 ODI out of 5 series against South Africa where Australia defeated South Africa 4–1 in the ODI Series. He missed the first match due to selectors picking Shane Watson over Smith but later joined the remainder of the games due to Michael Clarke's hamstring injury.[53] In his first match in Perth hade registered 10 runs but in the continuing games he made: 73, 104 and 67 runs. Smith scored his first century on Australian soil in the 4th ODI at the MCG. Steve Smith was made man of the series and produced 254 runs, the highest Australian total in the series.
India arrived in Australia to play a tour Test match series and a tri-series ODI competition with England. The ODI Series began after the four Test series, preceding the 2015 Cricket World Cup. The Test series was played first and the first Test match was scheduled on 4 December in Brisbane, but was later postponed because of the death of Phillip Hughes. The first Test was later rescheduled to the Adelaide Oval on 9 December and Brisbane would be hosting the second Test on 17 December.[54] In the first Test match in Adelaide, the Australian players wore Hughes’ Test cap number 408 on their playing shirts for the match as well as black armbands in honour of their former teammate.[55] In the first Test match in Adelaide, Smith scored 162 runs in 298 balls in the first innings and made 53 runs in the second innings, defeating India by 48 runs into day five. This also marked Steve Smith's first Test century against India and at the Adelaide Oval.
On 15 December, Smith was named Australia's new vice-captain and following an injury to Michael Clarke, he was appointed stand-in skipper against India with Brad Haddin as his deputy.[56] He made his captaincy debut for Australia in the Second Test match against India at the Gabba.[57] He continued his batting form and made 133 runs in the first innings before being run-out in the second innings with a score of 28. Steve was made man of the match and Australia were 2–0 in the series, defeating India by 4 wickets. In the third Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Smith made his third consecutive century in the first innings of the Test match scoring 192 runs in 433 balls. He also scored his 1,000th run in the 2014 calendar year is the eighth fastest Australian to reach 2000 Test runs, beating previous Australian captains such as Michael Clarkeand Ricky Ponting.[58]
The final Test match at the Sydney Cricket Ground saw Smith in his fourth consecutive century against India. The achievement marked Steven Smith joined Don Bradman (6),Neil Harvey, Jack Fingleton and Matthew Hayden (4 each) as Australian centurions in four or more consecutive Tests, a streak Smith started during the 1st Test at Adelaide. Smith also became the first Australian skipper to open their captaincy with three consecutive centuries, and the second batsman sinceJacques Kallis against West Indies to score a century in every match of a Test series.[59]The Test match ended in a draw as Australia defeated India 2–0 in the series, thus returning the Border–Gavaskar Trophy to Australia. The conclusion of the Test series saw Steven Smith man of the series, but also scoring 769 runs at an average of 128.16, the highest aggregate score in a four-test match series in Australia and also marked the highest number of runs scored against India by an Australian, surpassing Donald Bradman.[60][61]
Following the Test series, an ODI tri-series with India and England was confirmed in preparation for the upcoming Cricket World Cup hosted by Australia and New Zealand. In his first ODI match against England in Sydney, he was dismissed at 37 runs by Moeen Ali but continued to provide runs in the following matches leading to the final against England. En route to the tri-series final, Smith was handed his first ODI match on 20 January as the skipper after George Bailey was suspended for a slow-over rate earlier in the series.[62] Three days later, Smith scored his first ODI century against England producing 102 runs in 95 balls; the win saw Australia qualify for the final [63] and later defeating England to win the Carlton Mid Triangular Series in Australia 2014–15.
In the Cricket World Cup, Smith played a vital role as versatile batsman as he played in numerous batting positions from number three down to as a middle-order batsman. In his maiden World Cup game, he was dismissed early on 5 against England in the group stages, but later improved as the tournament progressed. After making several half centuries against Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Pakistan, he later steered Australia into the Cricket World Cup Final after making a century against India in the semi-finals at theSydney Cricket Ground.[64] In the final, Australia drew against fellow neighbours, New Zealand after defeating South Africa. Australia's target to chase 183 runs after a New Zealand collapse saw Steve Smith score 58 not out alongside the skipper, Michael Clarke as Australia won by 7 wickets with 101 balls remaining.[65]
Tour of the Caribbean and Ashes in England 2015
After winning the World Cup in March, Australia's winter schedule was later released with the Test team returned from their short break towards their two Test series against the West Indies in the Caribbean. Due to IPL commitments, Smith missed out on Australia's maiden warm up match against the West Indies Cricket Board President's XI on the 27th May. He later joined the Test squad in the first Test match in Windsor Park, and scored 25 and 5 runs respectively. In the second Test match in Sabina Park, Steve steered Australia to a first innings score of 399, where he made 199 and became the eighth man in Test history to be dismissed on 199.[66] Australia later won the match in positive fashion, beating the West Indies by 277 runs within four days and retained the Frank Worrell Trophy.[67] After his man of the match effort against the West Indies in the second Test, Smith became the second youngest player ever to reach the number 1 ICC Test batsmen ranking and just the eighth Australian to do so.[68]
Smith fielding for Australia during the 2015 Ashes series
The 2–0 victory against the West Indies gave Australia some momentum into the long waited Ashes series in the British Isles. While Australia's last tour in the British Isles was in 2013, the emergence of England's Joe Rootand Australia's Steve Smith saw an awaited clash to determine the better batsman in the upcoming series.[69][70] With the Australians on good form and England drawing to New Zealand and West Indies gave Australia some confidence to the countdown to the first Test in Cardiff. Steve started positively in his first-class match with a century against Kent in Canterbury.[71] He was rested on the second first-class match and in the first Test match in Cardiff, Smith made 33 in both innings as England took a 1–0 lead in the series. In the second Test in Lord's, Smith produced 215 runs in his first innings, his highest Test score and became the first Australian to score a double-ton at Lord's since the second World War. His double century also made Smith pass 3000 Test runs, the third youngest Australia to reach the feat.[72][73] In his second innings he made 58 runs before Australia levelled the series in a 405 run rout.
In the third Test in Edgbaston, Smith made 7 and 8 runs respectively, both dismissed bySteve Finn, but Smith's low scores saw England take a 2–1 lead into the series. In the fourth Test in Trent Bridge, Australia needed a win to draw the series. With overcast conditions and a green top, Alistair Cook won the toss and elected to field. In the first innings, Smith was dismissed again cheaply by Stuart Broad with a score of 6, as Australia capitulated in the first session of a total 60 runs from 18.3 overs – is the quickest – in terms of balls faced – a team has been bowled out in the first innings of a Test match.[74] In the second innings, Smith was again caught by Ben Stokes in the slips from Stuart Broad with a meagre score of 5. England within three days regained the Ashes and took an unassailable 3–1 lead and critics began to question Smith's performances in seaming conditions.[75][76] Into the fifth and final Test match back at The Oval, Smith made his second century in the series registering 143 runs of 252 balls before being bowled by Steve Finn.[77] Australia later defeated England by an innings and 46 runs. However England regained the Ashes 3–2 after winning in Nottingham in early August and later saw the Test retirements of Australia's senior players: Michael Clarke,Chris Rogers and later Shane Watson, Ryan Harris and Brad Haddin.[78] Smith made 508 runs in the series, the most runs scored in the series.
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