Former England batsman Mark Butcher says Smith's form is no joke
Thursday 21 April 2016 17:00, UK
Steve Smith’s form has been "staggering" says Mark Butcher, after the Australia captain eased through to his fourth consecutive Test century on day two of the fourth Test against India.
He joins Don Bradman (who did it three times), Matthew Hayden (twice), Jack Fingleton and Neil Harvey in being the only Australians to do so – and Smith becomes the first ever to score three in a row as captain.
Resuming day two at the SCG in Sydney on 82 not out, Smith added a further 35 runs to hit 117 in Australia’s score of 572-7 declared.
“It is a staggering performance,” said Butcher. “When he started out in the 2010/11 Ashes series – everybody thought 'this guy can’t play, he’s a joker'.
“But he’s gone from strength to strength and just doesn’t show any signs of stopping.”
Smith was dismissed just before lunch on day two, edging through to the keeper attempting a drive off Umesh Yadav.
That left Australia on 415-4 with two new batsmen at the crease after the other not out batsman overnight, Shane Watson (81), perished a few overs prior.
But Shaun Marsh (73) and Joe Burns (58) further pressed home Australia’s advantage and Smith opted to declare after tea and have a bowl at India – the visitors finishing the day on 71-1.
Butcher says the way Smith has dealt with the added pressure of leading the side has been particularly impressive.
“Hand him the captaincy, and what does he do – he just keeps scoring hundreds and breaking records on the way,” he said.
“He’s come from nowhere to lead his country and he’s the first name on the teamsheet now for a team that’s playing brilliant cricket. You can’t speak highly enough of him.”
If Australia bat again in this Test, Smith has the chance to break another record – if he scores nine runs or more in the second innings, it would be the most runs by an Australian in a four-match Test series, passing Ricky Ponting’s record of 706 which also came against India, in 2003/04.
“The guy is in great form at the moment,” Butcher added. “He will go through a bad spell again, as everybody else does, and people will point to his slight idiosyncrasies he has when he’s batting and say that’s why.
“But the fact of the matter is, when the bat comes down, it comes down square with the ball and with ferocious power.
“And he just seems to have a real hunger for run-scoring, when he’s got himself into good form, he hasn’t wasted it.”
Watch day three of the fourth and final Test between Australia and India live on Sky Sports 2 from 11.30pm.
