Smith comes of age as captain

Stepping up as Australian skipper quickly proved to be his toughest gig yet.

But it seems Steve Smith is getting the hang of it judging by his record captain’s knock in the second Test against India in Brisbane.

Smith will be a hard act to follow after becoming the ninth Australian to post a century in their first Test as skipper with a stirring 133.

And at 25, Smith is the youngest debut Australian skipper to achieve the remarkable feat.

Smith – Australia’s third youngest captain – came of age on Friday, helping his side bounce back from 6-247 and cruise to 505 with an overall lead of 97.

At stumps on day three, India were 1-71 in their second dig.

He had few complaints after his Gabba Test record 148-run seventh wicket stand with Mitchell Johnson (88) and a wagging tail salvaged Australia’s first innings.

However, Smith admitted it was hard to find positives on his first day at the helm.

No wonder – Australian bowlers were dropping like flies due to the sweltering Gabba conditions on day one.

And Indian opener Murali Vijay also turned up the heat, defying a bouncy Gabba deck that was supposed to terrorise the visitors by thrashing a record equalling 144.

“That first day was not quite what I expected,” Smith conceded.

“It was one of the toughest days I have faced in captaining any team to be honest.

“But I have enjoyed the last couple of days, the boys have supported me really well.”

It showed – Smith jumped with joy when he became the first to score a ton on debut as Australian captain since Graham Yallop in 1978.

He then kissed the crest on his helmet before raising his bat skyward no doubt again in honour of his late mate Phillip Hughes.

Clearly, it was emotional.

But Smith did his best poker face when asked about the innings’ significance afterwards.

“I am not too sure where it rates, any century for Australia is a good thing,” he said.

“I am just happy we made 500 with a lead to be honest.

“(But) I said I wanted to lead from the front with my performance.

“Hopefully I have done that so far this game and that it continues.”

Smith’s sixth Test ton added to his series scores of 162 not out and 52 not out.

His series average is 347.

Overall, Smith is averaging 82.90 from 14 Test innings this year.

It earned perhaps the highest praise Smith could hope for while standing in for the injured Michael Clarke.

“Awesome 100 @stevesmith49 in amazing form. #leadingfromthefront,” Clarke tweeted on Friday.

Australia have not lost at the Gabba since 1988 and Smith has done everything in his power to extend that streak.

Aside from his knock, Smith snaffled a diving one-handed catch at second slip to dismiss Rohit Sharma on day two.

And he rotated his bowlers well, despite Josh Hazlewood (cramps), Mitch Marsh (hamstring) and Mitchell Starc (back and ribs) all leaving the field on his horror opening one.

AUSTRALIANS TO SCORE A HUNDRED ON TEST CAPTAINCY DEBUT

*153no – Billy Murdoch v England, 1880

*143 – Harry Trott v England, 1896

*133 – Monty Noble v England, 1903

*191 – Clem Hill v South Africa, 1910

*158 – Warwick Armstrong v England, 1920

*112 – Lindsay Hassett v South Africa, 1940

*123 and 109no – Greg Chappell v West Indies, 1975

*102 – Graham Yallop v England, 1978

*133 – Steve Smith v India, 2014 THE RISE AND RISE OF STEVE SMITH

TEST RECORD:

*912 runs from 14 innings at 82.90 in 2014

*327 runs from 9 innings at 40.87 v England in 2013/14

*269 runs from 5 innings at 67.25 v South Africa in 2014

*174 runs from 4 innings at 43.50 v Pakistan in 2014

*347 runs from 3 innings at 347 v India in 2014/15

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