Superb Smith fights back to leave England fuming
Australia’s Steve Smith made a defiant 144 on his return to Test cricket after a ball-tampering scandal to halt England’s early progress on the opening day of the Ashes at Edgbaston.
The former captain dragged the tourists from 122-8 to 284 all out, with England surviving two overs to close on 10-0 to delight the partisan crowd.
Smith, joining team-mates David Warner and Cameron Bancroft in making his Test comeback, was booed to the crease and witnessed a collapse of five wickets for 23 runs from the non-striker’s end.
He finally found a capable ally in number 10 Peter Siddle, the 34-yearold playing only his third Test in three years.
They added 88 for the ninth wicket, frustrating England and silencing the crowd until Siddle was caught at short leg off Moeen Ali for 44.
Smith, who was on 85 when he was joined by last man Nathan Lyon, drove Ben Stokes for four to reach his 24th Test century, then cut loose to punish the weary bowlers.
The last-wicket pair shared 74, taking advantage of an England attack
without James Anderson, who is awaiting the results of a scan on a calf injury that restricted him to only four overs.
When Smith was eventually bowled to give Stuart Broad his fifth wicket, Rory Burns and Jason Roy negotiated an awkward period
If the usual protracted Ashes build-up was stunted by England’s World Cup triumph, the drama, atmosphere and fluctuations of this first day were a perfect reminder of what battles between cricket’s oldest rivals are all about.
For so long, it belonged to England as Broad and Chris Woakes made light of Anderson’s absence by exploiting the seam movement offered by a slow surface.
Australia’s collapse delighted those in the Hollies Stand, who waved sandpaper during the national anthems, taunted the visiting fans and told captain Tim Paine he will be “sacked in the morning”.
The chaos was added to by umpires Aleem Dar and Joel Wilson, who had four decisions overturned and gave another three that would have been changed if they had been referred.
Through it all, Smith was unmoved, playing one of the all-time great Ashes innings not only for how he rescued his side, but for doing so while dealing with the emotion and abuse drawn by his return.
By the end, particularly with pessimism surrounding the fitness of Anderson, he had given Australia the upper hand.
England were tortured by Smith’s 687 runs in their 4-0 defeat down under 18 months ago and here the ex-skipper ominously showed that his obduracy, idiosyncrasies and thirst for runs have not been dimmed by his time out of the game.
While the Hollies Stand sang that he will “cry in a minute” – a reference to his tearful press conference after the ball-tampering scandal – Smith first absorbed England’s pressure then grew into an innings that later saw him flay the ball to all parts.
He left with flourishes of the bat, chastised himself when he played a false shot and got into awkward positions as he nudged and guided the ball square of the wicket. All the while he fidgeted and adjusted his kit.
His judgement was impeccable. When he was given out lbw on 34, playing no stroke to Broad, it was umpire Dar who had made the mistake, not Smith.
Smith trusted Siddle with the strike and only when he was joined by Lyon did he emerge from his cocoon to take the attack to England.
By the end, they were bowling to him with all nine fielders on the boundary, and the torment was only finished when he was bowled aiming a heave at Broad.