Profile of Australian cricketer Steve Smith who was named on Monday as his country's 45th Test captain:
- Born June 2, 1989 in Sydney.
- Started his career as a promising leg-spin bowler and middle order batsman but is now primarily a batsman.
- Made his debut for Australia aged 20 in a Twenty20 match against Pakistan on February 2010, taking two wickets and scoring eight runs.
- No change in tactics as Steve Smith thrust into hot seat
- He has gone to play 21 Twenty20 Internationals for Australia, with a high score of 34 and best bowling figures of 3-20.
- Made his One-Day International debut for Australia in February 2010, against the West Indies, taking two wickets but did not bat.
- Has since played 45 ODIs, scoring 921 runs at an average of 31.75. He has scored two hundreds and three 50s.
- He was picked for Australia's Test team in mid 2010, aged 21, against Pakistan at Lord's.
- He has played 23 Tests, scoring 1,749 runs at an average of 46.02 with five hundreds, nine half-centuries and a high score of 162 not out, against India at Adelaide Oval last week.
- Smith was dropped from the Test team in early 2011 after making just two half-centuries from his first five Tests.
- He was recalled to the Test team just over two years later, making 92 on return.
- He scored his first Test century, an unbeaten 138, in the fifth Ashes test at The Oval last year, then two more in the 2013-14 Ashes series in Australia.
- He was named in December 2014 as Australia's 45th Test captain, taking over from Michael Clarke after he injured his hamstring in the first Test with India.
Image: Steve Smith.
Photograph: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images
