Steve Smith Reaches 10,000 Test Runs Milestone in the First Galle Test Against Sri Lank
Earlier this month, in the fifth Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 against India, Smith had fallen just one run short of the mark at his home ground in Sydney.
In Galle, Smith brought up the milestone on the very first ball he faced in Australia’s first innings. He flicked left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya to the leg side for a single, becoming only the fourth Australian to reach 10,000 Test runs. Smith also became the 15th player in the world to achieve this remarkable feat.
Before Smith, Allan Border, Steve Waugh, and Ricky Ponting were the only Australian batsmen to reach 10,000 Test runs.
Most Test Runs for Australia:
- Ricky Ponting – 13,378 runs
- Allan Border – 11,174 runs
- Steve Waugh – 10,927 runs
- Steve Smith – 10,000+ runs (currently active)
Among the top five Australian Test run-scorers, Steve Smith holds the best average, with an impressive 55.86. He has accumulated 34 Test centuries, the second-highest for Australia, just behind Ricky Ponting’s 41 centuries.
Ahead of the Galle Test, Smith shared his approach, saying, “I’ll try to put it out of my mind, to be honest. I probably thought too much about it in Sydney. This time I’ll just forget about it and focus on the job at hand.”
Smith is leading Australia on their Test tour of Sri Lanka, with Pat Cummins stepping down due to the birth of his child.
At lunch on Day 1, Australia is 145/2, with openers Travis Head and Usman Khawaja both scoring half-centuries after Smith won the toss and elected to bat first.