Steve Smith- In a league of his own

Cricket, at times, can serve cruelty. While the mercilessness is mostly allied with the bowlers, even batsmen face its wrath. The sport tends to judge cricketers by numbers and figures. They are recorded on a score sheet. And that’s it. Subsequently, they fade into oblivion like the files of abundant pending cases in the High Court or the Supreme Court.

Steve Smith racked up 141 runs in 326 balls- a knock which spanned 512 minutes. Statistics revealed that it was the Aussie skipper’s slowest Test century. Moreover, the facts also displayed that it was the slowest ton by an Aussie batsman in Ashes since 1993. However, does that divulge every bits and pieces of the marathon-like knock? No, it doesn’t, it can’t.

If we delve deep into the knock, there’s much more to it than mere numbers. It bailed Australia out from a precarious position; it smothered England’s surge when they were on a rampage; it manifested the right-hander’s expertise to play with the tail-enders- Smith led from the front even if it meant being circumspect and curbing his attacking natural instincts.

A pivotal stint in the middle

With the score at 209/7, Australia were set to fall way short of England’s first innings score. Skipper Smith and Shaun Marsh’s vigil resurrected the innings with a 99-run stand after their early hiccups, yet the Kangaroos stared down the barrel. The bad news was that Smith only had the tail to work with. However, the good news was that all the tail-enders were capable of extending support to their leader.

Mind you, Patrick Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon are no mugs with the bat. They have put a price-tag on their wickets and have made world-class bowlers sweat. Along with Hazlewood’s stern résistance, Smith staved off the English bowling attack. The 141-run gala eked out a first innings lead for the Kangaroos. Moreover, it gave the Aussies a psychological kick over their rival.

Ever since Smith’s gigantic effort to drag Australia out of the pits, the hosts didn’t look back. The knock rubbed off positively on the team and subsequently, the Aussies stomped out all guns blazing during England’s second innings. Mitchell Starc commenced proceedings by bouncing out Alistair Cook. Thereafter, Josh Hazlewood nipped out James Vince, England’s top scorer in the first innings.

Joe Root, Moeen Ali and Jonathan Bairstow tried their hearts out, but couldn’t overpower Australia’s surge. The Kangaroos stuttered during a chunk of their first innings. However, during their run-chase, Cameron Bancroft and David Warner shepherded them to glory without dropping much sweat.

Smith’s presence- The Turning Point

While post-match analysis from experts, pundits and the general public are flooding in, the eventual result revolves around one question- when did the game start to shift the balance?

Was it Moeen Ali’s controversial stumping? Was it Josh Hazlewood’s gritty knock? Or was it Bancroft and Warner’s stupendous opening stand, considering the notion that England still had an opportunity to humble Australia in the final innings of the game?

There were many. However, Smith’s 326-balls stint transcended one and all. It acted as a moment of inspiration for the players; their frame of minds turned from jittery to assertive; with their backs to the wall, they stormed into the ascendancy- steadfastly enough, England fell short of answers to the questions posed to them by the Aussies. Quite deservingly, Smith was crowned with the Player of the Match award.

One for the future

The numbers are arguably impressive for Smith, but they don’t t define the hurdles he has to face on challenging wickets. The three tons he racked up during Australia’s tour of India on rank-turners spoke tons about the pugnacious potential from New South Wales. He doesn’t play copybook cricket, he shuffles across his stumps and plays unorthodox shots, which makes him vulnerable.

However, he turned the complexities into his USP, which has fetched him runs at a haemorrhaging rate.  Even as the world is hailing the likes of Virat Kohli as the best in the business, Steve Smith is slowly but surely climbing up the ladder. Smith’s aggressive approach on and off the field is an open secret. However, as a skipper, one has to be flexible and Smith has been bang on in that aspect.

At 28 years of age, the Aussie is still relatively young and provided he keeps up with his form and fitness, he can attain further heights in international cricket. Meanwhile, Ricky Ponting has already remarked that Smith has all the ingredients to become a modern-day great.

Rightly so. An average of 60+ in Test cricket isn’t a doddle by any stretch of the imagination. Being the third fastest cricketer to 21 tons in no mean feat either. With the amount of runs he has garnered, he seems to be in a league of his own.

For the time being, he is an indispensable element of Australian cricket and is speculated to only get better as his career progresses.