Steve Smith: Unique Wrist Technique, 776 Ashes Runs & Sandpapergate Comeback

Steven Peter Devereux Smith is the most statistically dominant Test batsman since Don Bradman. His Test average has fluctuated between 58 and 64 throughout his career — consistently the highest among all active Test batsmen. His technique is unlike almost any coaching manual in existence: an exaggerated wrist roll at the point of contact, an unconventional trigger movement towards the legside before delivery, and a habit of falling over to the off side on front-foot drives. Yet the results are undeniable. He averages over 60 in Ashes cricket and has scored runs against every Test nation in every condition.

The Wrist Technique: Unorthodox but Effective

Classical batting coaching emphasises keeping the bat face upright through the stroke to maximise hitting area and reduce the risk of top edges. Smith does the opposite — he rolls his wrists over the ball significantly at contact, which produces shots that go along the ground rather than in the air. This means his false-shot percentage (the number of uppish or miscued shots per innings) is the lowest of any leading batsman. He rarely edges to the slips or miscues to the infield. The downside of his technique is that he is more prone to the short ball when it is well directed because his weight commitment is often late. However, he compensates with extraordinary late adjustments — his hand-eye coordination and last-millisecond corrections to his bat path are what separate him from imitators.

The Trigger Movement and Why Bowlers Cannot Solve It

Smith has used several different pre-delivery movements over his career — different 'triggers' that help him load his weight and time the delivery. They change slightly from series to series and have sometimes changed within a tour as he refines his method against a particular attack. Bowlers who study footage to identify a pattern find that the pattern has shifted by the next Test. This ability to self-coach and self-adjust in real time is what most distinguishes Smith from other batsmen. He watches footage more obsessively than any other batsman of his era and has described bowling machines as his most important practice tool.

The 2019 Ashes: 776 Runs in England

The 2019 Ashes in England was Steve Smith's defining series. He had just returned from a 12-month suspension following the Sandpapergate affair in South Africa. England expected him to struggle. He scored 774 runs in the first four Tests (one innings was ruled out by a concussion substitute ruling, but his 92 in that match was not included in the official tally at the time) and finished with 774 or 776 runs depending on calculation methodology. His individual performance included innings of 144, 142, 211, 82, 80*, 92, and 23. Only Bradman in 1930 (974 runs) had ever scored more in an Ashes series. Australia retained the Ashes. Smith was the undisputed reason.

Sandpapergate: The Ban and What It Meant

On 24 March 2018, during the third Test against South Africa in Cape Town, Cameron Bancroft was caught on camera using sandpaper to illegally alter the condition of the ball. The incident implicated captain Steve Smith, who admitted that team leadership had discussed the plan. Smith and David Warner were banned for 12 months from international and domestic cricket. Darren Lehmann resigned as head coach. It was the most damaging scandal in Australian cricket in decades. Smith issued an emotional public apology — widely regarded as genuine — and the ban was accepted. His return in 2019 was one of the most scrutinised comebacks in cricket history.

• Test batting average of approximately 60+ — highest among active batsmen and second only to Bradman all-time
• 776 runs in the 2019 Ashes, the second-highest individual series tally ever in Ashes cricket
• 34 Test centuries as of 2024
• First batsman since Bradman to average above 60 in Tests over a 50-match period
• Effective against swing, spin, pace, and reverse swing in all Test-playing nations