Smith continues love affair with MCG

Steve Smith's first taste of Test cricket on Boxing Day, Australian cricket's greatest annual tradition, was an instantly forgettable one.

It was here at the MCG in 2010 that Smith, a 21-year-old greenhorn picked more on potential than performance, was one of 10 Australian wickets to tumble for just 98 runs before tea on the opening day as England stormed to an innings victory and claimed the Ashes urn on these shores for the first time in 24 years.

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Fast forward six years and Smith's colossal batting average at the MCG, which was just 22 after that first Boxing Day encounter, isn't the only thing that's ballooned substantially since then.

Smith's unbeaten century against Pakistan today was his third in as many Boxing Day Tests, bringing his career average at the MCG to an almost Bradman-esque 114.60. And we say ‘almost’ because The Don is the only man ahead of him in that regard; the greatest to have ever played the game boasts an average of 128.53 here from 11 matches.

Today's hundred was also Smith's ninth in just his 19th Test as Australia's skipper, meaning he's notched three figures in almost every second Test he's played with the 'c' next to his name.

Once again, it's a record bettered only by the greatest of them all; Bradman scored 14 centuries from 24 Tests as captain at an average of 101.51, Smith a distant second with an average of 73.71 as skipper.

And today's 168-ball ton lifted the 27-year-old's career average to just a touch under 60, his mark of 59.79 behind only Herbert Sutcliffe's 60.73 and Bradman's iconic 99.94 for those to have played more than 25 Tests.

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The same baby-faced allrounder who floundered - along with his more fancied teammates - against the English here six years ago walked off the same ground today with his status as a modern batting great only enhanced.

"It's a nice place to bat," the skipper said after day four of a rain-affected Test that appears destined for a draw

"It's generally a pretty even-bounced wicket, you can play all around the ground and it's a fast outfield, which is always nice."

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Perhaps most impressively of all, Smith's third consecutive 1000-run year in Test cricket - a milestone he passed today - has come in a period of significant upheaval for his side.

Even during Australia's much-publicised five-match losing streak earlier this year, when his leadership and tactical nous were in question, Smith's status as a sublime batsman was never in doubt.

He will end 2016 as easily Australia's leading run-scorer, with an average in the 60s and four centuries to his name; centuries that have come on a green surface in Christchurch and a dry turner in Colombo, against the pink ball in Brisbane and the red one here in Melbourne.

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But perhaps his best innings of all this year came at Australia's nadir in Hobart, when he compiled 48 untroubled runs and faced more deliveries than the rest of his top seven combined against a potent Proteas attack.

His team may have struggled at times in 2016, but Smith the world-class batsman has barely faltered.

"That's my job; I want to lead from the front with my performances," Smith said.

"First and foremost, I'm a batsman in the team and that's my job to score runs.

"We've been through some tough times and some losses, but now we've won five games straight as an Australian team and it's been nice to have contributed in those games as well."

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