All you need to know about Steve Smith - the new Australian Test captain

Steve Smith has been anointed as Australia’s 45th Test captain. In the absence of regular skipper Michael Clarke due to injury, the exciting 25-year-old Smith will become one of the youngest to lead Australia out onto the field on Wednesday at Brisbane.Here is all that you need to know about Smith.

#1 Once upon a time in England

In early 2007, Steve Smith used to play for Sevenoaks Vine in the Premier Division of the Kent Cricket League. In 2007, he did so well for Sevenoaks that he was picked to play a handful of games for Surrey's second XI. He took six for 14 against Kent. Surrey tried to convince him to sign on, but his heart was elsewhere, specifically with the Sydney club Sutherland who made him their captain when he was just 19. Later that same year, he was playing for Australia's Under-19 team.

#2 The tug of war

Steve Smith has an English mother and a father who is an Australian; only obvious that a tug of war ensued, and he found himself caught in it, between the two countries over his future as a professional cricketer. Sadly for England, his father had a lot more influence on his cricketing career than his mother.

"I qualified for England through my mother," Smith had once said. "But ever since my father stuck a cricket bat in my hand when I was four, my dream was to wear that baggy green cap. I learnt a lot about cricket by playing in England but to return and get picked for NSW was terrific. Some people said England would be an easier way to play Test cricket, but that was not my dream. The dream was to play for Australia."

#3 A bowler first

Before troubling teams world over with his destructive batting, Steve Smith made a name for himself as a leg-spinner playing for his home state, New South Wales. During Australia’s domestic T20 competition in 2007/08, he became the joint highest wicket-taker at the end of the qualifying round.

In fact, he is best remembered as the baby-faced cricketer who stole a victory from the clutches of a strong Queensland team, with a miserly spell of 4/15 in that very season. This performance not only won his team the match but also earned him the Man-of-the-Match award.

#4 An inauspicious start

Pushed into the deep end of the pool, Steve Smith was exposed to the demands of international cricket quite early in his career. He made his ODI debut for Australia, against West Indies at Melbourne in February 2010. The twenty-something did not get to bat and was hammered with the ball, ending with match figures of 2/78 in 9.5 overs. Later that year, in July, he made his Test debut against Pakistan at Lord’s. He had scores of 1 and 12, falling to the leg spin of Danish Kaneria in both the innings. He did make up for it slightly, with 3 wickets in Pakistan’s second innings.

#5 Early signs of a gem and cementing his position

Following up the good performance with the ball in the 1st Test, Steve Smith played a crucial knock for Australia against Pakistan in the 2nd Test of the series. After having been bowled out for 88 in the first innings, the Aussies needed someone to come good in the second innings in order to set a competitive total. And Smith did exactly that. Batting with the tail, he scored 77 runs that included 9 fours and 2 sixes. In the 2010 World T20, he took 11 wickets at fifteen a piece to finish as the second highest wicket-taker of the tournament.

After some below-average performances during Ashes 2010/11, Smith got dropped and was sent back to the domestic circuit in order to regain his mojo. He made his Test comeback against India in 2013 and scored a masterful 92 at Mohali. He followed it up with a gritty 46 on a rank-turner at Delhi in the next Test.

When the Ashes happened in 2013 in England, he cashed in on his rich form and notched up half-centuries at Nottingham and Manchester. In the last Test of the series at The Oval, Smith scored his first Test hundred – a brilliant 138* peppered with 16 fours and 2 sixes. There’s been no looking back since then.

#6 IPL calling

In 2010, Steve Smith made an entry into the IPL for the first time, as a replacement for Royal Challengers Bangalore’s Jesse Ryder. Not having played a single game for RCB, the following year he made his move to Kochi Tuskers Kerala. Bought for $200,000, he was benched the entire season. In 2012, he was signed up by the Sourav Ganguly led Pune Warriors India, as a replacement for the injured Mitchell Marsh.

He had a terrific season and was one of the few bright spots in the Warriors’ abysmal campaign. He was the team’s highest run-scorer with 362 runs at an average of 40 and at a strike-rate of 135. Towards the end of the season, when regular captain Ganguly was rested, Smith was given the captaincy reigns. He is now with Rajasthan Royals after being signed by them in the IPL 2014 auctions.

#7 Australia\'s Future

At 25 years and 196 days, Steve Smith is the youngest to be captaining Australia in Test cricket after Ian Craig and Kim Hughes did it in 1957 and 1979 respectively. Also on that list is Billy Murdoch, who captained Australia nearly at the age of 26 way back in 1880. By the looks of it, Australian cricket certainly has an eye on the long-term future of its team.

Smith the Superman

One of the most telling images of IPL 2012 was of Steve Smith flying near the boundary ropes at the Eden Gardens, to make a near impossible save. His game has been an embodiment of his superb fielding and athleticism. In his joint ODI, Test and T20I career, he has taken 63 catches in 89 games.

ODIs continue to be his Achilles’ heel

Despite being a terrific limited-overs player, Smith hasn’t been able to set the scene alight in the one-day arena. After 45 matches, he has just 921 runs to his name at an average of 31.75. The centuries are far and few, with two having been scored only recently against Pakistan and South Africa in Sharjah and Perth respectively.