Smith surges up the Ashes record books
Steven Smith continues to etch his name deeper into Ashes folklore. His latest Test hundred was his 13th in the contest, moving him to second on the all-time list for most Ashes centuries, behind only Don Bradman’s towering tally of 19. Jack Hobbs (12), Steve Waugh (10), Wally Hammond (9) and David Gower (9) complete the top six.
This was also Smith’s 37th Test hundred overall, taking him past Rahul Dravid (36). He now trails only Sachin Tendulkar (51), Jacques Kallis (45), Ricky Ponting (41), Joe Root (41) and Kumar Sangakkara (38) on the list of most Test centuries.
Smith’s 13 hundreds against England are also the second-most by any batter against a single opponent in Tests, matching Sunil Gavaskar’s tally against West Indies and Joe Root’s against India. Only Bradman, with 19 Ashes hundreds, stands above them.
With that innings, Smith also went past Jack Hobbs’ Ashes run aggregate of 3636. His tally now stands at 3682, placing him second on the list of leading run-scorers in the history of the contest, reports Live Cricket Score.
Most runs in the Ashes
- Don Bradman – 5028
- Steven Smith – 3682
- Jack Hobbs – 3636
- Allan Border – 3222
- Steve Waugh – 3173
- David Gower – 3037
Smith also became just the fourth batter in international cricket history to score over 5000 runs against a single opponent. He joins an elite group featuring Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli and Don Bradman.
Most runs against a team in international cricket
- Sachin Tendulkar vs Australia – 6707
- Virat Kohli vs Australia – 5551
- Sachin Tendulkar vs Sri Lanka – 5108
- Steven Smith vs England – 5085
- Don Bradman vs England – 5028
Travis Head dazzles at the SCG
Travis Head added another milestone to his growing résumé, becoming the fifth Australian to score Test hundreds at seven different home venues—the joint-most by any player. He joins Steve Waugh, Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer and David Warner on that exclusive list. Head now has four hundreds at Adelaide Oval, two at The Gabba, and one each in Melbourne, Canberra, Hobart, Perth (Optus) and Sydney.
Head also registered his third century of the series, all as an opener. In doing so, he joined a select group of Australians to score three hundreds while opening in a single Ashes series, a list that includes Joe Darling, Bill Woodfull, Arthur Morris (twice), Bill Lawry, Michael Slater (twice) and Matthew Hayden.
His 150 at the SCG came off just 152 balls, making it the joint fourth-fastest 150 in Ashes history in terms of balls faced.
Fastest Ashes 150s (by balls faced)
- 129 – Joe Darling, Sydney 1898
- 141 – Adam Gilchrist, Edgbaston 2001
- 143 – Travis Head, Brisbane 2021
- 152 – Zak Crawley, Old Trafford 2023
- 152 – Travis Head, Sydney 2026
Late on Day 2, Head also became only the second Australian opener in the 21st century to aggregate over 500 runs in an Ashes series, after David Warner’s 523 in 2013/14. Head now has 600 runs from nine innings in the series, with 579 coming from eight innings at the top of the order.
England bowlers endure a tough outing
Australia’s dominance was underlined by seven partnerships of 50 runs or more in the innings—the second-most such stands in a Test innings, behind India’s eight against England at The Oval in 2007.
It was also the 22nd time in Test history that each of the first five wickets produced a 50-plus partnership. In Ashes history, this had previously happened only twice—both by Australia, at The Oval in 2001 and at The Gabba in 2006/07.
Joe Root extends his Test mastery
Earlier on Day 2, Joe Root equalled Ricky Ponting’s tally of 41 Test hundreds, moving joint third on the all-time list behind only Sachin Tendulkar (51) and Jacques Kallis (45). Root now needs 1985 more runs to surpass Tendulkar’s record Test aggregate of 15,921.
Since the start of 2021, Root has scored 24 Test hundreds—more than double the next best in that period. Smith is second with 11, followed by Kane Williamson, Harry Brook, Shubman Gill and Travis Head with 10 each. Root’s conversion rate from fifty to hundred since 2021 stands at an impressive 58.53%, a dramatic improvement from 25.75% earlier in his career.
Root now has 17 Test scores of 150 or more, a tally surpassed only by Tendulkar (20), Brian Lara (19), Kumar Sangakkara (19) and Bradman (18). He has also scored 150-plus runs in Tests across seven different countries—joint second-most alongside Steve Waugh, Lara and Sangakkara, and just one behind Tendulkar and Younis Khan, who lead with eight.
Stokes reaches captaincy milestone
Ben Stokes, meanwhile, has now taken 77 wickets as England’s Test captain—the joint-most by an England skipper, matching Bob Willis’ haul from 18 matches. Ray Illingworth follows next with 51 wickets as captain.
Another Test, another day of records—and the Ashes continues to deliver moments that reshape cricket’s history books.
