Steve Smith surpasses Allan Border on elite list despite dismal batting display in Boxing Day Test

Australia stand-in captain Steve Smith went on to surpass Allan Border on an elite list during the Boxing Day Test against England. Though he recorded cheap scores of 9 and 24* in the first and second innings respectively, he became the Baggy Greens' second-highest run-getter in the history of The Ashes. He is now only behind Sir Don Bradman on the list.

England seamer Josh Tongue rattled Smith's wickets in the first innings and he went on to remain unbeaten on the second  occasion on what was a daunting pitch to bat on. It was a poor batting display from Australia overall as they failed to post a total of over 200 runs in any of their two innings.

Smith's sensational numbers against England

Though Smith hasn't been able to live upto expectations in the ongoing Ashes, his consistency in the series over the years has seen him score 3,553 runs against England in Tests. The 36-year-old has hit 12 hundreds and 14 fifties across 40 Tests. He overtook Border on the list, who has 3,548 runs under his name from 47 Tests, including 8 hundreds and 21 fifties.

Most runs for Australia in The Ashes -

1. Sir Don Bradman - 5028 runs

2. Steve Smith - 3553 runs

3. Allan Border - 3222 runs

4. Steve Waugh - 3173 runs

5. Clem Hill - 2660 runs

Smith's remarks on Melbourne track

Meanwhile, Smith was critical of the Melbourne pitch where the Boxing Day Test got concluded within just two days. The track proved to be nothing short of a nightmare for batters as none of them were able to score a half-century. The first day saw a total of 20 wickets fall and this was followed by 16 wickets falling on the second day.