Steve Smith, the stand-in Australia captain, completed 10,000 runs in Test cricket. He achieved the feat on day one of the first Test against Sri Lanka being played at the Galle International Stadium in Galle on January 29, 2025.
Smith surpassed the milestone with a simple single, earning a standing ovation from the audience and warm appreciation from the Sri Lankan players, who recognized his great feat.
At 35, the veteran batsman joined an exclusive group of cricket luminaries that includes Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, and Brian Lara. He is also the 4th Australian to the landmark, after Allan Border, Steve Waugh, and Ricky Ponting.
Steve Smith completes 10,000 runs in Tests with a single against Sri Lanka
Smith fell one run short of the 10000-run milestone at his home stadium in Sydney earlier this month in the fifth Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 Test against India. Smith only needed 38 more runs in the Sydney Test against India to reach 10000 Test runs, but he was dismissed for 33 and 4.
He reached this significant milestone on the first ball of his innings in Australia’s first innings in Galle. Smith hit left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya on the leg side for a single, becoming only the fourth Australian batsman to reach 1,000 runs.
There it is!
Steve Smith is the fourth Australian to reach 10,000 Test runs 🙌#SLvAUS pic.twitter.com/06FLk8iqMI
— 7Cricket (@7Cricket) January 29, 2025
Smith has the best average among the top five Australian Test run scorers, at 55.86. He has 34 Test hundreds, the second most for Australia, trailing only Ricky Ponting’s 41.
Smith is leading Australia on the test tour of Sri Lanka as Pat Cummins had opted out due to the birth of his child.
Steve Smith, overall 15th batter to score 10,000 runs in Test cricket
Smith became only the 15th player in Test history to achieve 10,000 runs. He accomplished the milestone in just 115 Tests and 205 innings, marking him the third-fastest player to do so. Steve Smith also became the second-fastest Australian to reach 10,000 Test runs, after only Ricky Ponting, who did so in 196 innings.
Brian Lara, Sachin Tendulkar, and Kumar Sangakkara are still tied for the fastest, having reached the milestone in 195 innings each.
Earlier, Australia won the toss and chose to bat first. Josh Inglis was making his Test debut for Australia, which fielded three spinners: Matt Kuhnemann, Todd Murphy, and Nathan Lyon. Travis Head made 57 opening the innings for Australia, while Marnus Labuschagne made 20 runs.
At the time of this, Usman Khawaja scored a century, while Steve Smith made a 50 and the duo have added more than 100 runs for the 3rd wicket.