Steve Smith surpasses Bradman with 'insane' feat
Not only has Steve Smith managed to surpass Virat Kohli with his feats of batting brilliance this Ashes series, the fidgety former captain is giving arguably the greatest to play the game a run for his money.
Smith has sent records tumbling this Ashes series, despite missing the entire third Test due to a concussion.
'MOST EXPENSIVE IN HISTORY': Aussie cops $100,000 bill for one beer
His powerhouse double-century in the first innings of the fourth Test at Old Trafford left England with it all to do, but it was the incredible records that caught the attention of others.
The former captain surpassed Don Bradman to claim the record for the most runs scored against a single team across eight innings.
Smith’s stunning returns of 239, 76, 102n/o, 83, 144, 142, 92 and 211 in his last eight outings against the Poms totalled 1089 runs, easing past the mark Bradman set in the early 1930s with 1069.
Steve Smith (after getting to 192) now has the best eight innings stretch versus a single team in the history of Test cricket
Has gone past the 1069 runs that Bradman scored in 8 innings vs ENG between 1930 & 1932
@cricketcomau #ENGvAUS #Ashes— Swamp (@sirswampthing) September 5, 2019
Another of Bradman’s records remains safe from Smith, but the Australian superstar topped Sachin Tendulkar in the rankings for the fewest Test innings required to bash 26 centuries.
Where Bradman took just 69 innings to hit 26 centuries, his modern colleagues have taken a little bit longer to reach that same mark.
It took Smith 121 innings to reach the mark, 15 fewer than Indian great Tendulkar.
Sunil Gavaskar (144) and Matthew Hayden (145) rounded out the top five.
Fewest innings to 26th Test 100
69 - Don Bradman
121 - Steve Smith
136 - Sachin Tendulkar
144 - Sunil Gavaskar
145 - Matthew Hayden#Ashes #Ashes2019#EngvAus #AusvEng— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) September 5, 2019
Smith benefited from a dropped catch and costly no-ball in a superb knock of 211, but he feels it was England's bouncer barrage that allowed the Aussies to thrive and eventually declare at 8-497.
COMPLICATED TECHNIQUE but an ORGANIZED MINDSET is what sets @stevesmith49 apart. Incredible comeback!#ENGvsAUS pic.twitter.com/02MNGkYQ7y
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) September 5, 2019
Even Bradman would have been proud of doing what @stevesmith49 is doing. This consistency is insane. Well done and many congrats.
— Boria Majumdar (@BoriaMajumdar) September 5, 2019
Smith explains short ball tactics
All of the talk leading up to the decisive clash, which comes with the series level at 1-1, was how Smith would handle mental demons and a short-pitched salvo in his Test return from concussion.
‘NOT GOOD’: Joe Root and Jofra Archer in 'uncomfortable' clash
As the maestro manipulated the field in yet another masterclass that lasted almost eight and a half hours, Thursday's chatter quickly returned to comparisons between Smith and Don Bradman plus a stack of remarkable statistics.
The world's top-ranked batsman, wearing a StemGuard for the first time in a match after being struck on the neck by Jofra Archer at Lord's, was pleased England peppered him with bumpers.
"To go as short as they did, and as early as they did with the new ball, (it) softened that ball up and played into our hands," Smith said.
"If they bowl a lot at my head then they're not bowling at my stumps and trying to get me out lbw and caught behind.
"When Stuart Broad came on with the new ball, he bowled some really nice lengths and beat my bat ... I got an inside edge.
"He was quite challenging when he hit that length."