Australia's Steven Smith equals Don Bradman's record

Australian batting champ Steve Smith declared his return to form in the recently finished ODI series against England. However, the unconventional batsman has cemented his place as one of the most amazing red-ball batters of this generation by matching the great Don Bradman’s score of 29 Test centuries for Australia. His century came on the second day of Australia’s first Test against the West Indies in Perth. During Australia’s poor T20 World Cup title defence on home soil, the former captain was controversially dropped from the majority of matches.

He appeared in just one game for the defending champions, who lost their crown to the Three Lions. Smith, on the other hand, was back to his flowing best in the three-match ODI series against England following the ICC big event. Smith hit two half-centuries against England, who had recently won the T20 World Cup a few nights before. On the opening day of the Test series opener against the Windies on Wednesday, the 33-year-old batted strongly, scoring 59 runs before stumps. The next morning, he turned on the heat and went on to register his 29th tonne and in the third session registered his 4th double century in Test cricket.

Read more: All you need to know about the ICC Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup

Steve Smith is on track for a second-best Australian summer

Only three Australian cricketers have more centuries on the all-time list: Matthew Hayden (30), Steve Waugh (32), and Ricky Ponting (41). The Sydney-born cricketer began his career as a legspinner with some batting ability. However, the Australian turned his career around to become one of the best Test bats of his generation. Smith is far ahead of his rivals in the conventional version of the game, with a batting average of 60.85, and is poised to break more records in a busy Australian summer of cricket.