Smith's career-best 229no against England
Dec 16, 2017 - 11:10 AM Australian captain Steve Smith has staked his claim as the best batsman since Bradman with his highest Test score.Smith's unbeaten 229 against England in the third Test lifts his average to 62.89 - only the peerless Sir Donald Bradman has a higher average, 99.94.
And just two batsmen - Bradman and West Indian legend George Headley - have a higher percentage of centuries per Test innings.
Bradman scored a ton in 36.25 per cent of his innings with Headley (25 per cent) and Smith (20.37 per cent) the next best.
Smith batted the entire third day of play at Perth's WACA Ground - and he battered England into submission.
He resumed on 92 not out after telling his teammates on Friday night "I was just getting started".
Smith wasted little time in posting his 22nd Test ton and then continued his masterclass which Test great Adam Gilchrist likened to Bradman.
"It's everything you don't teach," Gilchrist said of Smith's unusual style while commentating for BT Sport.
"But he has got Bradman-like numbers so why don't we encourage it?
"There's a lot of Sir Donald Bradman about the backlift and down swing."
Smith put on an unbroken 301-partnership with Mitchell Marsh, who made the most of his recall with 181 not out - his maiden Test century.
"He has certainly got an aura," Marsh said of Smith.
"I have probably felt what it's like because I captained against him against New South Wales a couple of months ago - and it's not very nice.
"You come up with all these plans and none of them seem to work.
"He is a special player for Australia, a great captain, leads by example."
England tried a variety of tactics to thwart Smith's unorthodox style, from the age-old line-and-length to bowling wide of the stumps to deploying funky field placings.
None worked.
"We have tried all sorts of things," England assistant coach Paul Farbrace said.
"We have talked about the plans to him and we have been thinking about them plans for quite some time.
"But we have come up against a player who is in the form of his life, playing absolutely fantastically."
Source: AAP
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