CricTracker's Test Team of the Year 2014

5. Steve Smith (Australia)

Matches: 9, Runs: 1012, Highest: 162*, 100s: 4, 50s: 5, Average: 84.33, Wickets: 5, Best Figures: 1/30

For a man first picked for his leg-break bowling and termed to be Australia’s next Shane Warne, Steve Smith took his time from being a bowling all-rounder to being one of Australia’s long lists of technically sound and corrected test batsmen. Smith had only 2 Test hundreds before 2014 and a Test average of just a touch above 30, but he worked hard on his game and now has a Test average of nearly 48 with 6 hundreds and has taken 16 wickets as a part-timer spin option. His hard work was well rewarded by Cricket Australia when he became Australia’s latest Test Captain vs India at Brisbane.