The Australian skipper 239 run innings against England in third test helped his team to regain the Ashes by taking an indisputable 3-0 lead in the five-match series.
Ashes-winning skipper Smith has almost single-handedly took the match from Joe Root’s team out of the series, accrued 426 runs in just four innings at an average of 142. This places him second only batsman in Test history to Bradman, who has average of 99.94 and by the time the fourth Test of the series starts on Boxing Day, he would have been number one for two years.
Four number of consecutive years for Smith to score at least 1,000 runs. He is only the second person in history along with Australia’s Matthew Hayden to do it in four straight calendar years. Hayden holds the overall record of most consecutive 1,000-plus years with five.
Highest Averages in Test Cricket History
| Player | Span | Mat | Inns | NO | Avg | Runs | HS | 100 | 50 | 0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D Bradman (AUS) | 1928-1948 | 52 | 80 | 10 | 99.94 | 6996 | 334 | 29 | 13 | 7 |
| S Smith (AUS) | 2010-2017 | 59 | 108 | 15 | 62.32 | 5796 | 239 | 22 | 21 | 4 |
| A Voges (AUS) | 2015-2016 | 20 | 31 | 7 | 61.87 | 1485 | 269* | 5 | 4 | 2 |
| R Pollock (SA) | 1963-1970 | 23 | 41 | 4 | 60.97 | 2256 | 274 | 7 | 11 | 1 |
| G Headley (WI) | 1930-1954 | 22 | 40 | 4 | 60.83 | 2190 | 270* | 10 | 5 | 2 |
| H Sutcliffe (ENG) | 1924-1935 | 54 | 84 | 9 | 60.73 | 4555 | 194 | 16 | 23 | 2 |
| E Paynter (ENG) | 1931-1939 | 20 | 31 | 5 | 59.23 | 1540 | 243 | 4 | 7 | 3 |
| K Barrington (ENG) | 1955-1968 | 82 | 131 | 15 | 58.67 | 6806 | 256 | 20 | 35 | 5 |
| E Weekes (WI) | 1948-1958 | 48 | 81 | 5 | 58.61 | 4455 | 207 | 15 | 19 | 6 |
| W Hammond (ENG) | 1927-1947 | 85 | 140 | 16 | 58.45 | 7249 | 336* | 22 | 24 | 4 |
Moreover this helped Smith to accomplish a mark of 945 points in the ICC Test Rankings points.
| Player | Rating | Year |
| Don Bradman | 961 | 1948 |
| Steve Smith | 945 | 2017 |
| Len Hutton | 945 | 1954 |
| Ricky Ponting | 942 | 2006 |
| Jack Hobbs | 942 | 1912 |
Smith had reached 941 points after the first Test in Adelaide before dropping briefly to 938 after the Brisbane Test.That took him to joint second position in the all-time ICC ranking list alongside former England opener Len Hutton.
He overtook England batsman Peter May and Jack Hobbs as well as former teammate Ricky Ponting, closing within 16 points of Bradman’s tally of 961 points in the process.
Smith is already ahead of Bradman with regards to the number of Tests at the top. He has now been number one for 114 Tests, which is the fifth-most in a list led by Gary Sobers (189 Tests) and with Viv Richards (179), Lara (140) and Tendulkar (139).
Steve Smith Overall and 2017 Test Stats vs Other Big Players
| Player | Year | M | Runs | HS | Avg | 200 | 100 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steve Smith | 2017 | 10 | 1127 | 239 | 70.43 | 1 | 5 |
| Overall | 59 | 5796 | 239 | 62.32 | 2 | 22 | |
| Virat Kohli | 2017 | 10 | 1059 | 243 | 75.64 | 3 | 5 |
| Overall | 63 | 5268 | 243 | 53.75 | 6 | 20 | |
| Hashim Amla | 2017 | 11 | 942 | 137 | 49.57 | 0 | 3 |
| Overall | 109 | 8578 | 311 | 49.87 | 4 | 28 | |
| Joe Root | 2017 | 10 | 905 | 190 | 50.27 | 0 | 2 |
| Overall | 63 | 5499 | 254 | 52.37 | 2 | 13 |
