Smith steadies Australia and Head puts India to the sword on day of two centuries | cricket

Steve Smith, Gabba, Century. Not a surprising combination of words, because for a player who has played a tenth of his career at this venue, he is just a solid innings away from taking that number to over 1,000. It’s even more surprising when you consider that the contemporary Smith has been grinding along for a long time without any significant success and the engine revs and doesn’t start.

His hundred on the second day of the third Test against India on Sunday was his fourth in Brisbane and could not have been more different from the other three. India in 2014 and Pakistan in 2016 were breezy, borders bursting, Smith in purple pomp. England in 2017 was a tour de force of concentration: he faced 326 balls, hit just under 40 and batted for eight and a half hours to hold together an innings that was slipping away from him. He had never worked harder, but even at his hardest, it never seemed like he would actually get out. He was so good that success seemed inevitable.

In this other era of Smith, the coin found its opposite. Over the last few years, as I blinked in confusion at being transported back to the mortal realm, survival on the site has become less likely. Struggle is a given, success is the exception. Throughout his first 30 runs today, into his third hour either side of the lunch break, it repeatedly looked like Smith was on the verge of crashing.

As he wandered around the goal crease again, a change in technique compared to Adelaide and Perth, his adjustment had not had time to click. He was slow on the ball, pushing himself outwards from the off-stump and reaching awkwardly around the front pad to keep the ball out. Kicks to the side of the leg were risky. The thigh pads were damaged. Edges landed safely. Three moments came closest: a swinging yorker from Mohammed Siraj, to which he received a wooden corner; a ball that had fluttered away was the umpire’s decision to kiss the off-bail; and an inside edge that covered the stumps and beat the goalkeeper’s glove.

Marnus Labuschagne appeared to be the more controlled player but fell to a loose drive for 12. Smith scrabbled, batted, crabbed, clawed and had the ability a batsman often needs. On the 31st, he finally hit Akash Deep’s finest straight drive, where he had hitherto only bounced off the edge, surprising the stadium with a stampede and a tiny moment of silence. India’s bowlers began to tire, Smith began to build.

With 49 on the back and 49 on the scoreboard, a single took him past half a century for the first time since his last Gabba visit at the end of January this year. Seven innings between 50s isn’t much of a drought, but only once in his career has Smith waited that long – and those seven came on the India tour last year, before he made the breakthrough with his World Test Championship century in London.

At this point he had the advantage at 75 over Travis Head, a player so quick that he filled his partner’s sails. Head had at least as many missed shots as Smith, but that’s what he always does: He’s a statistical anomaly when it comes to attempting such a risky play but consistently following through. Smith was able to march behind and increase his own pace, first with moves and cuts, then with increasingly confident drives, through cover, mid-off and, most aesthetically, mid-on. Fifty to 100 was a far easier journey. A gap of 24 innings between hundreds was also a career high. The head has now burned to 152.

From this innings you will read that “Smith is back”. With all due respect, he isn’t, and that’s not the point. Smith cannot be the Smith of old because that was a greatness that no one can bear. At one point, this player had a streak of 26 centuries in 99 innings. The player we have now has scored seven goals in his last 75 years. The first half of his career against India saw seven centuries and an average of 84. The second half had three centuries and an average of half as many. And that’s okay considering he can still pitch innings like that.

When Smith caught Jasprit Bumrah shortly after reaching his century, he had steadied his team: a shaky point at two behind for 38 had become a confident 316 for four. While a few more wickets quickly followed thanks to Bumrah, Alex Carey finished the day well with the bat to maintain Australia’s lead at 405 for seven.

However, the effort wasn’t enough for Smith. He had the presence of mind necessary to acknowledge the crowd’s appreciation as he walked away and turned a full circle in salute, but he wasn’t willing to be so generous with himself as to throw down his helmet and let out an easily understood “Shit!” “to form. after crossing the rope. In these later days, when it is increasingly rare to safely negotiate a route through the treacherous start of an innings, Steve Smith did not think he had achieved sufficient reward with 101 runs.