Steve Smith reached a remarkable milestone on his tour of Sri Lanka, scoring his 10,000th run in Test cricket. He achieved this feat with his first scoring shot in Galle, flicking left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya for a single to mid-on. This made Smith the fifth-fastest player to reach 10,000 Test runs, accomplishing the milestone in his 205th innings.
Among Australian cricketers, only former captain Ricky Ponting has reached this landmark faster, doing so in 196 innings. Smith joins a prestigious group of cricketers, with Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, and Kumar Sangakkara completing the milestone in 195 innings.
Smith’s journey to 10,000 runs has been one of steady dominance. Starting his career as a leg-spinner and batting lower down the order, Smith made his mark as a middle-order batter in 2013 during a tour of India. His breakthrough came in 2014, when he began a run of exceptional performances, including a memorable 115 against England in the Sydney Test. Over the next six years, Smith scored 6,257 runs in 100 consecutive innings, maintaining an astonishing average of 71.92. His consistency and ability to score centuries have set him apart in Test cricket.
Earlier this year, during the Sydney Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Smith came close to 10,000 runs but was dismissed for 9999, becoming the third batter to fall just shy of the milestone.
With regular captain Pat Cummins unavailable due to the birth of his second child, Smith is leading Australia in the ongoing series in Sri Lanka.
