ICC World Test Championship: How well did the 'Fab Four' perform in their first series

#2. Steve Smith

Steve Smith had a memorable return to Test cricket

The Ashes 2019 will always be remembered for two things - close nail-biting Test matches and The return of Steve Smith.

After a year-long ban from international cricket, Steve Smith returned to Test cricket with the Ashes. Amidst all the boos from the English crowd, Smith made a mark and proved why he is a 'great' in Test match cricket.

The five-match, highly-contested Ashes series was the perfect platform for Smith to show what he is made of. The ICC World Test Championship began in Birmingham with the first match of the Ashes and it was the Steve Smith show altogether. He scored hundreds in both the innings of the match and won it for Australia silencing all his critics.

The second match at Lord's saw Smith scoring a valiant 92 in the first innings. He didn't come to bat in the second innings as he was struck by a lethal bouncer from Jofra Archer. Smith had a concussion replacement in Marnus Labuschagne, the first-ever in the history of Test match cricket. The concussion also saw Smith sit in the next match which Australia lost to a once-in-a-lifetime innings from Ben Stokes.

With his return in the 4th match of the series, Smith went up a notch by scoring a brilliant double century followed by a half-century in the second innings. Australia retained the Ashes, courtesy Smith's brilliance. Smith got difficult to get dismissed throughout the series as he scored another half-century in the 1st innings of the last test as well.

By the end of the series, Smith had scored 774 runs in 7 innings with an average of 110 with three centuries and three fifties. It was a phenomenal return for Smith in Test cricket as he also secured the numero uno rankings in ICC Test Ranking for Batsmen. The boos at the beginning of the series turned into bravo by its end. Among the 'Fab Four', Steve Smith had the best series to begin the ICC World Test Championship campaign.