Steve Smith is a great batsman. That is undeniable.
If his career was to end tomorrow his record would stand up favourably against the best of all-time.
His 51 Tests have produced 4888 runs at an average of 60.3.
His 18 centuries have come at a rate of one every 2.8 Tests – compared to Virat Kohli (3.4), Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara (3.9), Ricky Ponting (4.1) and AB de Villiers (5.0).
He averages 68.6 in Australia and 54.0 off shore.
Not a bad record for a man who debuted at number eight in the batting order, having been selected primarily for his leg-spin bowling.
In his 21 Tests as skipper he has scored 2348 at 73.4, and amassed ten centuries.
It is a record that any player would be proud of.
At the age of 27, he has many years to further add to his batting CV.
As things stand, it would appear he also has many years ahead of him as Australian Test captain.
He made a dream start to the captaincy, his first 11 matches at the helm yielded seven wins and four draws.
His next five matches resulted in losses – a whitewash in Sri Lanka last year and two losses to start the summer against South Africa.
The second of those losses against the Proteas was a modern-day nadir for the Australian side.
Smith’s men lost by an innings and 80 runs at Hobart on the back of being dismissed for 85 in the first innings.
For his part, the skipper scored 48, the only batsman to exceed ten runs.
Australia’s second innings effort was similarly uninspiring with yet another calamitous collapse.
The Hobart loss cut deep with Smith. In fact, it was a line in the sand moment.
In the wake of that defeat, Smith delivered the most powerful media conference of his captaincy career.
“I’m embarrassed to be sitting here to be honest with you”, he said.
“Too many times we’ve lost wickets in clumps, 8-32 today, 10-85 in the first innings … it’s happening way too consistently for my liking.
“We’re not being resilient, we’re not willing to tough it out and get through tough periods. Right now, it’s not good enough. I’m hurting.
“I need players that are willing to get in the contest and get in the battle and have some pride in playing for Australia and pride in the baggy green. That’s what I need.
“At the moment, it’s not good enough and I’m sick of saying it to be honest with you. It’s happened five Tests in a row.”
Smith’s words, and the tone in which they were delivered, were just what was required at the time.
It was honest. It was direct. It was coming from a man who was repeatedly upholding his end of the bargain only to be let down by his teammates.
They were comments that are seldom heard nowadays.
Too often we hear tokenism and platitudes from our sporting captains when their respective sides are wallowing.
We hear how the team is working hard, how things will turnaround, how you just need to have faith.
Smith did not mince his words. He was angry and he wanted all and sundry to know it.
From that point forward he largely got his wish.
The personnel were altered. In some people’s eyes the changes immediately after the Hobart defeat were too dramatic – five substitutions were made for Adelaide, including the dropping of Callum Ferguson and Joe Mennie after they had played just the one Test.
The wholesale changes bore fruit. Australia trounced the Proteas at Adelaide and swept aside Pakistan 3-0.
And then there was Pune, a high watermark that made the humiliation of Hobart seem like a distant memory.
Again, Smith was to the fore. His second innings 109 was hailed by Darren Lehmann as his finest century.
It set the tone for the series and stamped his authority on it early on.
The tourists then surged to victory on the back of Steve O’Keefe’s 12-70.
One of the areas where Smith’s leadership has come under scrutiny has been the use of his spinners, particularly Nathan Lyon.
Through Sri Lanka and early in the Australian summer, Smith appeared to lack confidence in his offie.
Shane Warne, and others, were critical of him regarding the way Lyon was utilised in the opening Test against South Africa at Perth.
In the back half of the Australian summer the skipper seemed to have regained faith in Lyon.
At Pune, he bowled beautifully, while O’Keefe reaped the major awards.
One thing is beyond dispute and that is the fact that Smith leads from the front.
His performance with the bat since ascending to the captaincy has been phenomenal. It has been truly a case of leading by example.
His performances at the crease have given him a position of strength from which he can make demands on his charges.
Currently, he is leading a team that is full of confidence.
A series victory in India, or indeed a draw which would see Australia retain the Border-Gavaskar trophy, would be an enormous feather in Smith’s cap.
There are still question marks over certain personnel in the current side, but likewise, there are several standout stories that have come to the fore in recent months.
The nascent international careers of Peter Handscomb and Matthew Renshaw point to both making significant contributions in the years ahead.
The performance of O’Keefe at Pune significantly adds to Australia’s spin stocks, while the pace bowling arsenal looks as bright as it has been for quite some time.
Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood are one of the finest new ball partnerships in the game.
Behind them are Jackson Bird, the returning Pat Cummins and James Pattinson, and the yet to be tried but extremely capable Chadd Sayers and Jason Behrendorff.
Many a skipper has profited on the back of a lethal pace bowling attack.
Steve Smith has shown marked development in his leadership skills and qualities in recent months.
He has this series to conclude and a home Ashes series next summer. Should he secure both his standing in the game will further escalate.
Many believe Mark Taylor, with a 52 per cent win record, and Michael Clarke (51) to be the most tactically astute skippers that Australia has had in recent times.
Smith’s current win percentage is 57.
In recent times, he has been accorded the opportunity to mould a team to his own liking.
It is certainly reaping benefits.
subhendu sardar
Guest
Smith is my all time favourite player... . ....he is a great captain ... ......love you Smith
qwetzen
Guest
Mike said: "There’s a danger in looking at the past with rose coloured glasses." Indeed, you'll look like Bono or Ozzy Osbourne. Errrgh. Re your main point that AB's era wasn't a great one for spinners... True, but they weren't really needed were they?
Mike
Guest
Well even so, it's hard to imagine AB making a fool of Smith as he did Viv! I was simply noting that while the period was one of great fast bowlers (Garner, Marshall, Holding, Croft, Lillee, Thommo, Imran, Hadlee, Ambrose, Bishop, Patterson, Walsh, Akram, Waqar, Reid, Botham, Willis etc etc etc) it wasn't a period of great spinners. There were some decent spinners at times but it wasn't a golden time for them by any means. Bedi, Prasanna and Chandrasekar (my faves from the 70s) were gone. Underwood was a handful but was gone by the 80s (as I recall). Qadir had his moments. Yardley had a decent summer or two for us. Come on, even Peter Sleep and Eddie Hemmings were getting a run! There is a reason Viv's average isn't up near 60 and while I loved him, he did have a weakness against spin. He could demolish a fast bowler like no other before him but my belief is that he was to some extent a product of his time. The main diet was fast bowling and he ate 'em up. No doubt if some great spinners were operating at the time he would have applied himself more to expanding that part of his game but as it stands he didn't really need to (or have the chance more likely). There's a danger in looking at the past with rose coloured glasses.
qwetzen
Guest
Mike said: "Back in those days that Windies team would hammer us in Perth and concede the Test in Sydney almost before it was played as we rolled out spinners of the magnitude of Bennett, Holland or AB!!!" The reasons why the Windies routinely lost in Sydney were; a) they'd already won the series, b) they were completely shagged out...
Mike
Guest
QWERTZEN - I don't think AB's greatness is ever disputed and he was named in the Aust team of the 20th century. He is often recognized as being the player that dragged us from our mid 80s depths and the man you'd want batting for your life - which probably sells his attacking skills short. I started following Test cricket as an 8 year old in 1972. I agree that the fast bowling stocks world wide were much stronger in the late 70s and 80s however, the spinning stocks were often woeful. I think that great Windies team would have really struggled against Warne and Murali let alone against some of the great spinners on the rung below such as Kumble, MacGill, Harbie, Ashwin, etc. Talking of AB, I remember him ripping through the Windies batting line-up in Sydney with his vicious (sarcasm!) left arm orthodox tweakers. Viv was obviously a great but he was a bunny against the spinning ball moving away from him. AB got him twice in that game. I wonder how he would've gone against Warne! My point is that Smith has scored runs against some quality bowling. Fast bowlers aren't the be-all of what defines a difficult attack to face. Back in those days that Windies team would hammer us in Perth and concede the Test in Sydney almost before it was played as we rolled out spinners of the magnitude of Bennett, Holland or AB!!!
qwetzen
Guest
Beat me to it. Damn you night owls! Criminy! Even Slater & Taylor had higher averages than MEW.
Baz
Guest
i think the problem is at home the 5th bowler tends to be better if its a pace part timer although this is different for most other teams bar england.
El Loco
Roar Rookie
Half the posters here are worried about wevver he said sumfing mean about the new boy.
Glenn Mitchell
Expert
Ashwin is an interesting case as the scheduling has not see him play a lot of matches outside India. Most spinners have had countries in which they have struggled. Murali averaged 75 in AUS & 45 in IND. Harbhajan 73 in AUS. Warne 43 in IND & 40 in WI. Kumble 45 in SRL, 42 in PAK, 41 in NZL. Dennis Lillee is an interesting one too. Nobody would ever dispute his greatness yet in his entire career he played just four Tests in Asia for six wickets at 68.
Felix
Guest
It's a similar concept that's seldom applied to teams playing against Warne and McGrath. I recall the CH9 team doing a piece on batsmen that had averaged above their career average while batting in Australia. I forget the details but a few Indians (VVS might be one?) and maybe Sangakarra had actually stepped up when facing them here and batted above their average. I rated that stat at the time, and r
Glenn Mitchell
Expert
The only thing there though Lancey is that a lot of batsmen around M Waugh's time were averaging a lot higher than him and scoring centuries more regularly for AUS ... his brother, Hayden, Ponting, Taylor, Martyn, Langer etc. Also, M Waugh's average was 41.8.
Rob
Guest
Here here to that.
BurgyGreen
Guest
Yeah I was maybe being a little generous with Ashwin, although there are a few spinners considered 'great' who have poor records in Australia. Plus he can bat. I also forgot Rabada! Potential legend that one.
davSA
Guest
I totally agree on all your points Glen. Smith now needs to reverse the losses to SA , England and win in India. Sri Lanka was an anomaly , anyway I watched them through their recent Series in SA and they are a poor test side. If he can achieve this he will go down as a great captain. He has already established himself as a great batsman.
Lancey5times
Roar Rookie
Today's averages vs those of 20 years ago has been well covered on this site. I think it is safe to say Smith would have averaged less than 60 playing when Jnr played and Jnr would averaged well above 44 were he playing now
Lancey5times
Roar Rookie
Nicely done
davSA
Guest
Made me think about other humourless captains and Kepler Wessells of the Proteas really stands out. I Have hardly ever seen him smile and when he does it even hurts me to watch. He was however overcompensated by Brian Mcmillan standing with him in the slips . Big Mac constantly had his teammates and often the opposing batsmen in stitches.He got nailed a number of times by match commissioners for inappropriate language. In that vein Steve Smith does seem a bit , well , dour. I'm not certain if he has another character in the side who can perform a Big Mac for him . No Warnie with his toilet humour either.
qwetzen
Guest
BG said: "Possibly guys like Starc, Hazlewood, Ashwin etc. will be considered great by the end of their careers..." Ashwin's going to need a couple of good tours to get near "great". in Aust = 54.7 in RSA = never taken a wicket (0/108) in UK = 33.7
qwetzen
Guest
Rob JM said: "Well and truly, he is allready (sic) on the border (sic)..." I believe that if Smith had to face the bowlers that AB faced then his average would by vastly reduced and he would have missed a lot of games through injury. AB is the unluckiest batsman in history. Not only did he face so many of the best ever fast bowlers, but he did it so often and for so many Tests. It's an injustice that he rarely gets a mention in these 'Best Batsmen of Our Times' lists.
qwetzen
Guest
Over a hundred Tests and such a low batting average. You've got to wonder how that happened. And with a current average that's *20* runs higher it's a bit silly to say that Smith hasn't gone past Waugh M.