Smith will now have to wait until the first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle later this month for his next chance to become the 15th batsman to join the 10,000 club.
Often considered the best since Bradman, Smith will be the fourth Australian batsman in the group after Allan Border, Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting. Ahead of this SCG test, Border paid tribute to Smith and his position among the game’s greats.
“An average of 57 or more is at the highest echelon in history, if you take a certain guy [Bradman] is on par with the best,” he said. Nine newspapers. “As far as Australia goes, we’ve had Greg Chappell, Ricky Ponting, Steve Waugh and those sorts of players.
“But now Steve [Smith] occupies the same place as that group, without any problem. “I’m a big fan of Tendulkar and Lara, they were phenomenally good cricketers, but Steve is definitely up there with that group for sure.”
It felt like a scoring feat Smith was destined to achieve: he was the fastest in 8000 test runs and the second fastest to reach the 9000 mark, although the final climb to the summit took longer than expected afterward. of a relatively lean 2023. 24 season that included a brief stint as a starter after the retirement of David Warner. Consecutive centuries in Brisbane and Melbourne left him on the brink, but now the wait is even longer.
Smith is likely to captain Australia on the upcoming tour of Sri Lanka, where Pat Cummins is expected to miss at least one Test due to the birth of his second child.
