Captain Smith tops legendary precursors

Steve Smith's ascension to the top job in Australian cricket came – for the first time – rather unexpectedly in the summer of 2014-15.

Michael Clarke was injured, ruled out for the series against India, and with three Tests still to play, someone had to fill the void.

Clarke's deputy, Brad Haddin, was considered the likely stop-gap measure, but withdrew from the race, suggesting instead that Australia look to the future; Clarke's injury-plagued body wouldn't last forever, and Haddin was too old to play much, if at all, beyond his regular skipper.

As a consequence, Smith's name emerged. This boyish one-time leg-spinner who had only been a regular fixture in the side for little more than 12 months, but whose form in that time had finally confirmed what plenty had long believed – the kid had serious talent.

Smith was 25, an age considered by traditional measures much too young to be Australia's Test captain, and all that the title encompasses.

But whether it was foresight, bravery, or simply a lack of suitable alternatives, Australia's selectors went for the New South Welshman.

Three Tests later, with two victories, a draw and three more Smith centuries in the can, they knew they had their man for the long-term.

The Ashes defeat that followed, and Clarke's form slump and retirement, brought the long-term plan into sharp focus, and true to form, Smith – now 26 – has continued to deliver, maturing and learning on the job but most impressively owning a captaincy record that reads: 10 matches, six wins, four draws – zero defeats.

It's a streak that makes him the first Australia captain since Warwick Armstrong (1920-21) to go unbeaten through his first 10 Tests.

Here’s how Smith stacks up against his four most recent predecessors, and their introductions to the top job in Australian cricket.

MARK TAYLOR

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First Test as captain: September 28, 1994
First 10 Tests: Four wins, four losses, two draws
Final record: 50 matches, 26 wins, 13 losses, 11 draws

Taylor famously made a pair in his first Test as captain, as he oversaw a painstaking 1-0 series defeat in Pakistan as Australia continued a long winning drought in the country. Five Tests later, back Down Under, he'd led Australia to another comprehensive Ashes victory, with superstar leg-spinner Shane Warne the ace up the skipper's sleeve. A daunting trip to the Caribbean followed, in which Australia earned a win and a draw in the opening two matches to round out Taylor's first 10 in charge. Two matches later, he'd secured an historic series victory as Australia wrestled the Frank Worrell trophy from the West Indies' grasp.

STEVE WAUGH

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First Test as captain: March 5, 1999
First 10 Tests: Five wins, three losses, two draws
Final record: 57 matches, 41 wins, nine losses, seven draws

Steve Waugh took over from Taylor following an Ashes series and his first foray into the top job was the defence of the Frank Worrell trophy in the Caribbean. As expected, Australia steamrollered through a now-weakened Windies side in the first Test, but met resistance in the form of Brian Lara in the next two, the enigmatic left-hander almost single-handedly securing back-to-back wins for the struggling archipelago. Waugh controversially dropped Warne for the fourth and final Test, Australia won, and his decision was vindicated as the trophy was retained. A three-Test tour to Sri Lanka followed which ended in a surprise 1-0 defeat, though two matches were seriously affected by rain, with little play possible. A one-off Test in Zimbabwe followed – Australia's first against the African nation – which Waugh's men won comfortably, before they returned home for a series against Pakistan that coincided with the debut of an explosive wicketkeeper named Adam Gilchrist. Australia won the series 3-0, and set sail for a world record run of 16 straight Test victories.

RICKY PONTING

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First Test as captain: March 8, 2004
First 10 Tests: Eight wins, one loss, one draw
Final record: 77 matches, 48 wins, 16 losses, 13 draws

Ricky Ponting kick-started his Test captaincy tenure in style as Australia whitewashed Sri Lanka in an absorbing three-match away series. He missed a Test against the Lankans in Darwin but returned to oversee a drawn affair in Cairns as the final match of a rare Top-End tour. Ponting was then ruled out of the majority of the breakthrough victory in India with a broken thumb, Gilchrist taking the reins for the opening three matches before Ponting's return for a fourth Test defeat on a Mumbai minefield. Australia returned home that summer and cruised to a 2-0 series success over New Zealand, and a 3-0 win over Pakistan as they set their sights on the 2005 Ashes.

MICHAEL CLARKE

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First Test as captain: January 3, 2011
First 10 Tests: Five wins, three losses, two draws
Final record: 47 matches, 24 wins, 16 losses, seven draws

Filling in for an injured Ponting, Michael Clarke captained Australia for the first time in an SCG hammering that rounded out an ignominious Ashes series. Eight months later, he emerged from the rubble of the Ashes to lead Australia to a hard-fought 1-0 series victory in Sri Lanka, and followed it up with a drawn two-Test series in South Africa that included a 47 all out scoreline for the men in Baggy Green, a majestic 151 from Clarke and a thrilling victory in Johannesburg. A thumping of New Zealand in Brisbane followed, but the Black Caps bounced back with a shock win in Hobart to level the series. A visit by India followed, and Clarke rounded out his first 10 matches in charge in the best fashion imaginable, piling on an unbeaten 329 at the SCG as Australia took a two-nil series lead that would soon become a four-nil whitewash.

STEVE SMITH 

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First Test as captain: December 17, 2014
First 10 Tests: Six wins, four draws

As mentioned above, Smith's initial introduction to the top job was as a temporary replacement for an injured Clarke. He filled the breach with aplomb, leading Australia to a win in Brisbane before high-scoring draws in Melbourne and Sydney secured a 2-0 series success. Within a year, the job was his full-time, and against a New Zealand side many gave a realistic shot at ending the Black Caps' 30-year drought in Australia, Smith again delivered, leading his side to victories in Brisbane and the day-night Test in Adelaide (with a draw in Perth splitting those two matches) to lock up the Trans-Tasman trophy. A visit from a poor West Indies side offered little in the way of serious competition; only rain prevented a 3-0 whitewash as Smith had to settle for a third successive 2-0 result. Across the Tasman, in his maiden voyage overseas, Australia began in emphatic fashion in Wellington, an innings victory ending the Kiwis' unbeaten run on home soil that had extended back to 2012.