Steven Smith Only Behind Bradman While Head Hits Another Major Milestone

Steven Smith has scored 13 Test centuries in the Ashes, placing him second on the all-time list behind Don Bradman, who finished with 19. Smith had been tied on 12 with Jack Hobbs before reaching his century in Sydney.

The 13 centuries he now holds against them are the joint-second most achieved by any batter versus a single opponent. The same total is shared by Sunil Gavaskar against West Indies and Joe Root against India, all trailing Bradman’s 19 against England.

Smith’s total Ashes runs have climbed to 3682, pushing him past Hobbs’ 3636. Only Bradman, with 5028, has scored more in the history of the rivalry. His overall tally against England is the second-highest collected by a player against any opposition.

Smith also reached another landmark with his SCG effort. His century was his 37th in Test cricket, moving him ahead of Rahul Dravid's 36. He needed 219 innings to achieve that mark. Only Ricky Ponting, with 212 innings, and Kumar Sangakkara, with 218 arrived there faster.

Australia also produced remarkable consistency in partnerships. The innings featured seven stands worth fifty or more, the most ever by an Australian side in an Ashes innings and the second-most in any Test innings. Only India’s eight such partnerships against England at The Oval in 2007 surpass it.

Captaincy Landmarks And Scg Dominance

Smith’s tally as captain has now reached 18 Test centuries. Only three captains in history have scored more. Eleven of those hundreds have come across 26 home Tests, which equals Ricky Ponting for the most captain’s hundreds in home conditions.

Smith now has five hundreds at the SCG, the second-best total at the venue, one behind Ponting’s six. He also owns five centuries at the MCG, showing his consistency on Australia’s biggest stages. He now trails only Ponting in total SCG Test runs.

Travis Head had added his own milestone to the record books. His century at the SCG means he has now scored hundreds at every Australian venue where he has played. Only 4 other players had achieved hundreds at seven different Australian venues before Head. Steve Waugh, Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer, and David Warner.

Head’s Scoring Habits Reach Elite Territory

Head has already produced seven scores of 150 or more inside his first 12 Test hundreds. Only Bradman, Zaheer Abbas, Virender Sehwag and Dennis Amiss passed that tally at this stage, each recording eight. Among Australian batters, only Bradman and Steve Waugh had managed at least seven such scores in their first 12 centuries before Head joined the list.

Interestingly, Head’s highest Test score remains 175, which is the lowest top score among the 47 batters who recorded seven or more 150-plus innings. Two others on that list, Colin Cowdrey and Mohammad Azharuddin, also never converted any of those into double hundreds.

Head needed 152 balls to bring up his most recent 150. That makes him the joint third fastest player to reach 150 in the Ashes based on available ball-by-ball data, and beginning in 2001. 

The fastest remains Adam Gilchrist’s 141-ball effort at Birmingham in 2001, while Head himself previously reached 150 in 143 balls at Brisbane in 2021. In 2023, Zak Crawley reached 150 at Manchester off 152 balls.

The fastest recorded 150 in Ashes history belongs to Joe  Darling, who scored 160 at the SCG in 1898. That innings took 135 minutes to make 150 in what was estimated to have been 129 to 131 balls. Darling also still holds the fastest individual 150 recorded at the SCG, with Head’s Sydney effort now the second quickest.