Former Australia captain Steve Smith added another feather to his cap on Wednesday as he completed 9,000 runs in Test cricket during the ongoing second Ashes Test against England at Lord's.
Smith achieved the feat in the 42nd over of Australia's first innings on Day 1 to become the fastest batter in terms of matches taken to enter the 9k club in the longest format, beating West Indies legend Brian Lara's record.
Lara achieved the feat in 101 Tests while Smith got to the landmark in his 99th match for the Aussies.
In terms of the number of innings, Smith is the second fastest behind Sri Lanka great Kumar Sangakkara. Smith is playing his 174th innings while Sanga completed 9,000 Test runs in 172 innings.
Rahul Dravid (176), Brian Lara (177) and Ricky Ponting (177) complete the top-five.
Smith equals Lord's record with 4th successive fifty
Smith also equalled the record for the most consecutive half-centuries at the Lord's Cricket Ground. His 38th fifty is also his fourth in a row at the 'Home of Cricket'.
Former England batter Frank Woolley (1921-1926), ex-Aussie player Warren Bardsley (1912-1926) and former Enland captain Nasser Hussain (2001-2002) achieved the feat before Smith (2015-2023).
Australia steady after England opt to bowl
Smith is currently in the middle of a fifty-run partnership with Travis Head. Australia meanwhile, have reached 252 for 3 in 64 overs so far after being asked to bat first by England captain Ben Stokes.
Opener David Warner returned to form, scoring 66 while Usman Khawaja suffered a rare failure and managed just 17 runs. Marnus Labuschagne contributed with 47.
Two-Test-old Josh Young got the wickets of Warner and Khawaja while Ollie Robinson sent back Labuschagne.
