NEWS
Follow UsAustralia’s modern-day great Steven Smith needed 38 runs in the last Test of the summer of 2024-25 to reach the milestone of 10,000 Test runs at his home ground of Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) in Sydney during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25.
However, he missed out on the special milestone in front of his home crowd, family and friends, as even after needing just five runs during Australia’s second innings, he scored just four and remained stranded at 9,999 runs.
Reacting to missing out on the milestone, he said, “One run... It hurt a little bit at the time. It would have been nice to have ticked that off in front of all my friends and family here at my home ground, but hopefully, I can knock it off first thing in Galle [Sri Lanka, first Test].”
"I probably let it wander [in my mind] too much throughout the game. It's a cool milestone to tick off," added the 35-year-old during an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald.
Smith has been named as captain of the Australian team for the tour of Sri Lanka. Though there remain mixed emotions about whether he should be allowed to lead the team after the Sandpaper Gate, the player himself doesn't have any issues and neither have his teammates.
"I mean, everyone's entitled to their opinion. They can say whatever they like. I'm pretty comfortable in my skin. [The environment] around the team has been good for a long time. I get on well with everyone inside. People are entitled to their opinion. They can say what they want," he said.
