Steven Smith deserves all the congratulatory pats on the backside in the world after yesterday’s effort.
The mercury was sky high, England were on top, the pitch, while not the trampoline first suggested, was quick and bouncy, and he had no runs in the bank from which he could draw confidence, but the pint-sized 24-year-old came up good and scored a ton when his team needed it most.
But there is someone else who should be on the receiving end of some accolades for the effort, and that man is Darren Lehmann.
This Perth Test is the first time since the 2006/2007 Ashes series that Australia has presented the same team sheet for three consecutive Tests.
That is a staggering fact when one considers how few changes there were on Australian scorecards in those magical 90s and the early part of this millennium.
And with Smith’s failures in the first two Tests, had someone else been in control in the dressing room, he might easily have found himself in an air-conditioned box somewhere watching someone else try and rescue his side.
Under the likes of Tim Nielsen and Mickey Arthur continuity and Australian cricket were in a bitter separation. New players were tried and discarded more regularly than Michael Clarke changes gloves, and in no position was this more evident than the spin bowling role.
Australia went through no less than 12 spin bowlers under the regimes of Arthur and Nielsen, including some spectacularly underwhelming efforts from the likes of Beau Casson and Bryce McGain, before Lyon was plucked from T20 cricket and thrust into the humidity of Galle.
Ironically, somewhat, Smith was on that merry ground, when he debuted against Pakistan in 2010 as a bowling all-rounder.
And in the batting department things have not been much better.
The likes of Rob Quiney, Phil Hughes and Shaun Marsh have come and gone, and in Hughes’ case come and gone again. This cricketing version of a revolving door does not form the nucleus with which good teams a built.
It creates uncertainty and insecurity, which in turn slashes confidence and produces poor cricket. It was that kind of poor cricket that took us to the 10/11 Ashes series, and multiple defeats in India.
In defence of Nielsen and Arthur, they are not selectors, but it’s their dressing room, their training sessions, and their guidance that makes players successful cricketers.
In addition, Lehmann’s first series in charge, the northern Ashes, featured different Australian teams in every Test.
But that was what Lehmann inherited, and on such short notice one can only expect so much.
Sure, he tried and failed with Ashton Agar, but since then he has rebuffed the temptation to try the multitude of other spinners in Australia, and stuck with the one guy who knows how to play Test cricket.
Lyon’s performance in Brisbane speaks for itself.
In the short time since then, the change has been remarkable, and even though there are passengers in the current batting line-up, the fact that it’s the same group that has sung the national anthem together for three Tests in a row will help make this a stronger cricketing unit.
Steve Smith knows that, for sure.
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