Steve Smith

Australia's stand-in skipper Steve Smith tried to douse the controversy over the exclusion of Nathan Lyon for the second Ashes Test in Brisbane, saying that the decision was taken to strengthen the batting order and there wasn't anything personal against the spin bowling stalwart. Lyon had described his mood as "absolutely filthy" after he was dropped by Australia for the first time in 13 years in a home Test. Australia's chairman of selectors, George Bailey, had described the exclusion as a "one-Test decision" and guaranteed the 38-year-old spinner a place in the XI for the third Test in Adelaide. "It could have gone a few different ways, and it's certainly nothing against Nathan. He's a freak," Smith was quoted as saying post-match by Fox Sports. Australia defeated the Ben Stokes-led England by eight wickets in the Brisbane Test on Sunday to take a 2-0 lead int he five-match series. "He's (Lyon) been our spinner for such a long time, but the extra batting and the way the tail hun

Steve Smith took a brilliant reflex catch to swing momentum just before Ben Stokes' defiant half-century ended in a rush of England wickets Sunday, then he hit the winning runs in the second cricket test to give Australia a 2-0 Ashes lead. Day 4 was a tale of two captains. Set a target of 65 for victory after England was bowled out for 241 in the second innings, Australia raced to an eight-wicket win in 10 overs either side of a 20-minute interval as serious storms brewed to the southwest. Jofra Archer was bowling around 150 kph (93 mph) under the lights and it only fired up Smith. There were some theatrics involving the Australia captain and England's strike pace bowler, with Smith telling Archer to bowl faster after ducking a bouncer. He then ramped him for a boundary and hit the next ball for a six to bring up 1,000 test runs at the Gabba. With Australia at 63-2 and needing just two runs to win, Smith hit a six to finish it and finished unbeaten on 23 from nine deliveries. Jake

The Australia stand-in captain used humour and a pointed throwback to counter Monty Panesar's call for England to exploit sandpapergate.

Pat Cummins' recovery timeline now makes him a doubtful starter for the second Test at the Gabba on December 4.

England batters are making merry on "pretty flat" pitches at home but the Ashes series later this year will throw an altogether different challenge when Ben Stokes-led side visits Australia, warns batting stalwart Steve Smith. The ease of batting in the ongoing India-England has become a topic of debate and Smith believes the British batters shouldn't get too used to batting-friendly pitches. The two teams have managed to score more than 500 runs in an innings at least once and have consistently put on board runs in excess of 400. "Their (England) batters are going to be challenged a little bit differently to the wickets they have had over in England for a while, which have looked pretty flat and good for batting," Smith was quoted as saying by BBC Sport. "The wickets in Australia in the last three or four years have been very tricky for top order batters. It is going to be a good challenge for them. But it's going to be a wonderful series." As part of preparation for the Ashes, S

The closest active cricketer to Root's number is Australia's Steve Smith, who has 2,356 runs in just 24 matches

Smith's injury occurred during a high-pressure passage of play, as Australia looked to break a crucial stand. Positioned unusually close at slip just 14 metres behind the stumps

Despite stepping away from the 50-over format, Smith will continue to play Test and T20 cricket, ensuring his presence in the Australian squad for the foreseeable future.

Steve Smith said at one stage his Australian side thought England would score 400 runs on a flat track here but his bowlers pulled the team back to a "chaseable" target of 352, ultimately winning their high-scoring Champions Trophy match by five wickets on Saturday. Australia's five-wicket win was the highest-ever chase by any team at an ICC white-ball tournament, the previous best being Pakistan's 345 against Sri Lanka at the 2023 men's World Cup. "We thought 350 was chaseable. Looked like they (England) would get 400 but we trusted each other's skills, took pace off at the right times, hit hard lengths, squeezed and controlled the back end," Smith said at the post-match presentation. "Marnus bowled nicely too and took a few wickets. The two 'keepers (Alex Carey and Josh Inglis) have been batting beautifully, (they are) in great form," said the skipper who opted to bowl after winning the toss. Inglis was the main architect of the five-wicket win as he played the innings of his lif

With all three of Australia's frontline pacers missing, the team will feature a completely revamped pace attack as they prepare to face England in Lahore on February 22.

With Mitchell Marsh ruled out and skipper Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood still doubtful, Australia are unlikely to field their go-to playing XI in the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy

Steve Smith achieved this milestone with his first run against Sri Lanka in the ongoing Test match

The 19-year-old's dazzling 65-ball 60 and his audacious scoops off India's ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah became the talk of the cricketing world

Smith was struggling with his form ahead of the series, but it seems like he has overcome that phase, as he now has two centuries under his name in the last two Tests

IND vs AUS CRICKET SCORE UPDATES: Konstas' aggressive start gives Australia a good total at the end of Day 1 with Cummins and Smith to start Day 2 for the hosts.

IND vs AUS 3rd Test Day 3 BRISBANE WEATHER UPDATES: Day 4 is also expected to experience some rain with a 29% chance of a thunderstorm as well.

The conditions were tough, and Smith faced a testing spell of bowling from India's bowlers, but he weathered the storm

IND vs AUS 3rd Test Playing 11: Ravindra Jadeja replaced R Ashwin in India's Playing 11 while Akash Deep came in for Harshit Rana.

IND vs AUS 2nd Test Playing 11: Captain Rohit replaced Devdutt Padikkal while Dhruv Jurel made way for Shubman Gill in the India's Playing 11. Ashwin comes in for Sundar.

The rampaging Indian team aside, a Pink-ball Test brings with it its own set of challenges, but Australian batter Steve Smith is "focussed" on taking them all head on in the game beginning here on Friday. Australia will enter the day/night match -- second of the five-match series -- trailing, following a heavy defeat in the opener at Perth. Smith and Marnus Labuschagne, the two batting mainstays of the Australian team, were dismissed cheaply for low scores in the first Test, which Australia lost by 295 runs. "Pink ball, it can be challenging at different times of the day or night depending on where you bat and the situation of the game and the ball and all those kind of things," Smith was quoted as saying in a Star Sports video. "So just being really switched on. The pink ball can be a little bit unpredictable at times. So yeah, just being really focussed," he added. Australia skipper Pat Cummins also spoke on the challenges of playing a Pink-ball Test, but felt the basics remain