'He will be Australia's second-greatest batsman after Don Bradman': Ricky Ponting

The dominance of Australia in the ongoing Ashes 2023 series continued as they registered yet another victory in the second Test by 43 runs played at the Lord's cricket ground. The English cricket team was not able to chase down a total of 371 runs on Day 5 and were bundled for a score of 327 runs in the second innings. The visitors took a 2-0 lead in the five-match Ashes 2023 series and also would look forward to retain the coveted 'urn' for the 4th consecutive time at Headingley. 

3 things you need to know

• Australia batsman Steve Smith was adjudged the Player of the Match in the second Ashes 2023 Test 
• Steve Smith played a knock of 110 runs off 187 balls and also completed his 32nd Test century
• Steve Smith is ranked 2nd in the ICC Men's Test rankings 

READ MORE | IND vs WI: India star drops mysterious message after being overlooked for Windies series

Steve Smith is all set to join an elite list 

Australian batsman Steve Smith is one of the finest batsmen in the history of cricket and has been performing brilliantly for his country since his debut. Smith is also on the verge of creating a massive record while making his appearance in the third ENG vs AUS Ashes 2023 Test. The right-handed batsman will be featuring in his 100th Test and also will become the 14th Australian to achieve the milestone. 

READ MORE | ENG vs AUS live score, Ashes 3rd Test

Ricky Ponting makes a big comment on Steve Smith 

Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting was recently having a chat with former England batsman Nasser Hussain on the Daily Mail, pointed out Steve Smith's brilliance with the bat, and also considered him as the second-best Aussie batsman after Sir Don Bradman. Ponting said, 

If it all ends tomorrow, he will be Australia's second-greatest batsman after Don Bradman. Statistically, you can't argue with that. He is getting things very fast. Also at Lord's, he became the second fastest player in history to reach 9,000 Test runs.

Steve Smith's record in Test cricket

Steve Smith till now has played a total of 99 Tests for the Australian cricket team and has made 9113 runs at an average of 59.56. Smith has made a total of 32 hundreds for Australia whereas he has also hit 37 half-centuries.