Steve Smith Cements Himself as Ashes Great, Only Don Bradman Above Him in Elite List

Steve Smith reached 15,500 First-Class runs in the ongoing SCG Test, marking a significant milestone in his illustrious and record-breaking career.

Steve Smith Cements Himself as Ashes Great, Only Don Bradman Above Him in Elite List

Steve Smith etched closer to Sir Don Bradman's record for the most Ashes tons. (via Indian Express)

Australian icon Steve Smith further cemented his Test legacy by scoring a hundred on the third day of the final Ashes clash against England at the Sydney Cricket Ground. By doing so, Smith broke records and is now ranked second on the all-time list for the most centuries in Ashes history.

Steve Smith‘s numbers in red-ball cricket speak for themselves, given he has carved out a legacy of his own over the past decade. He was outstanding on Day 3 of the fifth Ashes Test against the Three Lions, while batting under pressure. Coming into the final showdown of the five-match series between the two rivals, Australia seemed to be on the back foot after having lost the Boxing Day Test in just two days.

With England having piled up a 384-run total after opting to bat first at the SCG, Australia needed a strong start. Travis Head got running, hitting a blistering 163 off 166 balls. After Head’s dismissal, Smith took charge of Australia’s innings, guiding the team to 518/7 by the end of the day. He recorded his first hundred of the ongoing 2025-26 Ashes, as he notched up 129 off 205 balls, hitting 15 fours and a six. 

Smith held his composure throughout the day, despite repeatedly falling to the ground to duck Josh Tongue’s bouncers. For the Aussie batter, it was his 13th Ashes hundred, which now puts him in the 2nd position on an elite list of batters in the longest format. Steve Smith is now only behind Sir Don Bradman for most Ashes tons, with Australian legend having amassed 19 hundreds in 37 Ashes Tests.

The stand-in Australian skipper overtook England icon Jack Hobbs (12 centuries) on the list, as he now boasts 13 centuries in the 41 Ashes Tests, played between 2010 to 2026. Not only did he go past Hobbs on the all-time centurions’ tally, but Smith also overtook the Englishman to become the second-highest run-getter in Ashes history. Smith has scored 3,682 runs in 73 innings at an average of 55.26, while Hobbs scored 3,636 runs in 71 innings at an average of 54.26.

Furthermore, Smith’s 13 Test hundreds against England are also the joint second-most by any player against a single opponent. The 36-year-old is tied with Sunil Gavaskar, who scored the same number of hundreds against the West Indies, and Joe Root, who also scored 13 against India. 

Steve Smith’s career over the years

A part of the famed ‘Fab-Four’, Steve Smith is one of the most remarkable players Australia has produced over the past decade. Despite having an unorthodox technique, Smith has been a relentless run-getter across all formats, and is often dubbed the ‘Best since Bradman’.

Steve Smith Australia
Steve Smith remains one of Australia’s greatest batters from the 21st century. (via BBC)

Initially selected to play for Australia as a spin-bowling all-rounder, Smith rose to fame as a batter after success in his early domestic cricketing seasons. He made his debut in a Test match against Pakistan in 2010. He also made his ODI and T20I debut in the same year, before rising up the ranks. After Michael Clarke stepped down, he was appointed Australia’s captain, a position he held until 2018. 

Steve Smith’s numbers for Australia across all three formats make him a modern-day great. He has played 122 Test matches so far, scoring over 10,000 runs, with 37 hundreds and 44 fifties. In 170 ODIs, he has scored 5,800 runs, including 12 hundreds and 35 fifties. However, Smith’s career was overshadowed by a ‘shameful’ ball-tampering incident, which occurred in a Test match against South Africa in 2018.

Despite the challenges, Smith remains one of Australia’s most decorated players, having been a part of three World Cup-winning campaigns in 2015, 2021, and 2023. He was also named the ICC Test Men’s Test Cricketer of the Decade for 2011-20.

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