\n<\/p>\n
If Smith’s recent lull has been unnerving, this knock featured all of his trademark quirks.<\/p>\n
He stopped the game whenever a spectator sneezed within shouting distance of the sightscreen and twice he ended up flat on his back \u2013 once with his hands, feet and bat positioned above his head.<\/p>\n
The rest of Sydney – crisp, pristine and dashed with pink – watched on as Smith eventually waved his bat with his shirt caked in dirt.<\/p>\n
For one so great, Smith somehow manages to look ugly.<\/p>\n
At another point, Smith berated himself for failing to hit part-time spinner Jacob Bethell for four.<\/p>\n
“Ah Steve,” he said. “That’s awful, absolute throwdown.”<\/p>\n
He showed Matthew Potts similar disdain when attempting to replicate Lleyton Hewitt’s forehand smash to a bouncer in the final hour.<\/p>\n
In Potts’ next over he took it upon himself to hold his arms wide to signal a wide.<\/p>\n
Smith \u2013 so often the butt of the jokes – has never seemed bothered about gaining the love of England fans.<\/p>\n
“I don’t know I am doing it,” he said.<\/p>\n
“When I am doing all of those things it probably means I am in a good zone.”<\/p>\n
“You won’t see it in the textbook the way he plays,” added former Australia batter Mark Waugh.<\/p>\n
“It has been a funny innings that has ebbed and flowed. At times frantic, then he looked like he was struggling to concentrate and got himself going.<\/p>\n
“Talking to himself, gesturing, rolling on his back and stopping people at the top of the grandstands. He has got the job done.”<\/p>\n
Bradman’s 5,028 Ashes runs and 19 centuries are surely beyond Smith but, though we know Khawaja’s career will end at the conclusion of this Test, further English pain dealt by the New South Welshman cannot be ruled out.<\/p>\n
“He prides himself on his batting ability but also his leadership,” said fellow centurion Travis Head.<\/p>\n
“That’s also a motivation to continue. While he’s enjoying it, he will hang around. I hope he’s here for a long time.”<\/p>\n
When he walked off at The Oval on the final day of the 2023 Ashes, it felt like a goodbye. Smith has offered no such certainty.<\/p>\n
“It’s a shame he’s [Khawaja] gone, now I’m the oldest one here,” Smith said before this Test.<\/p>\n
“I want to keep playing, I’m still enjoying it. We’ve got a really good team.<\/p>\n
“I’ve said for a while I’m taking it day by day, series by series and we’ll see where things land.<\/p>\n
“I feel like I’m doing alright at the moment, I’m contributing and having fun so there’s no real end date for me.”<\/p>\n
He may no longer be the relentless run-scorer of that 2017-18 series but with his latest Sydney showpiece, Smith showed he is not done frustrating England yet.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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