County Championship: Steve Smith is now the second-best Test batsman in cricket, having scored 30 hundreds in the longest format.
Steve Smith, a stalwart of Australia’s Test batting lineup, has been signed by Sussex Cricket and is prepared to make an impact in this year’s County Championship. The experienced batter has just signed a short-term contract with the county team, and the agreement only calls for him to play in three games this year.
Steve Smith can therefore play in Sussex’s three matches against Worcestershire, Leicestershire, and Glamorgan on May 4, 11, and 18, respectively. At The 1st Central County Ground, Sussex will host Glamorgan after the first two of them, which will be away games.
Smith is an important member of Australia’s Test and ODI teams. The Australian was unable to dedicate himself to the team for the entire County season as a result. The middle-order hitter will also be preparing for the ODI World Cup in India and the Ashes series in England.
The 33-year-old hitter has however managed to take some time off for three county matches in England while maintaining a busy schedule. Smith should also be confident after his impressive batting displays in the 2019 edition on English soil, where he accumulated 774 runs at an average of 110.7 and a strike rate of 64.71. The Sydney-born star will now be hoping to put up an even greater show as Australia looks to win a series in England for the first time since 2001.
In the ICC Men’s Test batting rankings, Steve Smith is presently placed second. Along with 30 tonnes at a staggering average of 60.89, the former skipper also has 37 half-centuries in the longest format to his credit.
The batting megastar from Australia is presently focused on amassing a tonne of runs in the forthcoming four-match Test series against India beginning on February 9. Since 2004–2005, the Australians have not won a Test series in India.
Notably, after winning the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at home during the 2014–15 season, Australia has lost the past three competitions.
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