Say it in hushed tones, but Steve Smith could well be challenging cricket's eternal godfather, Don Bradman, for the 'greatest ever' tag this Ashes series. After twin tons at Edgbaston that took Australia to a win at the venue for the first time since 2001, Steve Smith has an ominous record against England in Test cricket.
Since 2015, England had been unbeaten at the venue in any format, but their best laid plans were thwarted by Smith's return to Australia's squad after his year-long ban. Carrying on from where he left off in the last Ashes series, Smith rescued Australia from 122/8 in the first innings and made 144. In the second essay, he made 142 as Australia set England a daunting target on a crumbling wicket.
With these tons, Smith now has an average of 60.84 against England in Test cricket - a total of 2312 runs in 24 Tests with 10 hundreds and six half-centuries. But a large portion of these came in the initial half of his career, when he wasn't half the batsman he is now.
Cut this down to his runs against England since the 2015 Ashes, and you see numbers that challenge the might of the Don himself. In 11 Tests, Smith has 1481 runs at an average of 92.56. In 10 of the 18 innings he has batted in, Smith has made a fifty-plus score and converted seven of those into hundreds.
In England, he averages 72.18 in six Tests with four hundreds. Compare this to Bradman's record and it sits pretty well. Bradman had an average of 89.78 against England, less than what Smith averages in his last four years against the same opposition.
In his best 13 innings streak against England, Bradman made scores of 270, 26, 169, 51, 144*, 18, 102*, 103, 16, 187, 234 - an average of 120.00.
Smith in his last 10 innings against England has scored of 143, 141*, 40, 6, 239, 76, 102*, 83, 144, 57* - an average of 147.25.
If he continues this run of form for three more innings, Smith could well end up above Bradman's best ever run against England, in turn challenging his status as cricket's best ever against one of Test cricket's oldest teams.
Feature image courtesy: AFP / Lindsey Parnaby & J.R.Loke / News Ltd
