Smith shifts gears to fire Test warning

Steve Smith showed off his remarkable powers of adaptability and concentration in his final tune-up ahead of the home Test season, scoring the slowest century of his first-class career in the Marsh Sheffield Shield on Tuesday.

Just a week after his jaw-dropping 80 not out from just 51 balls in a T20 against Pakistan, Smith faced nearly six times as many deliveries for his 42nd first-class ton across the first two days of NSW's match against Western Australia at the SCG.

The 290 balls it took him to reach the milestone are the most he's ever faced to reach triple figures, 'eclipsing' his marathon 261-ball ton at the Gabba in the opening Test of the 2017-18 Ashes series.

It means he's now scored two of the three slowest centuries of his career in his past two Shield games, having posted a 235-ball hundred against Tasmania last month before heading off for international duties.

"After playing the T20s it was about coming back and getting back into that red-ball cricket and finding the right way to go about it," said Smith after NSW declared on 8-444.

"I was a bit slower than I would have liked but it wasn't easy. The wicket was pretty slow. There were no slips for the majority of the innings, there was a ring field and the surface was slow and the square is quite soft as well.

"It's probably the way I play my best, when I'm just patient and playing each ball on its merit. They bowled some pretty good spells and didn't let me score too much.

"I just hung in there … I just had to grind it out. We got 450 so we're in a pretty good spot."

Not only was the knock against WA an ominous sign for Pakistan, for whom dismissing Smith will undoubtedly be their bowlers' top priority for their two-Test Domain Series, it also highlighted the right-hander’s unrivalled ability to change gears.

Back-to-back T20 campaigns against Sri Lanka and Pakistan required Smith to constantly get bat on ball and hit boundaries from early in his innings.

He did that with aplomb in stroking two unbeaten half-centuries in three hits during the two series victories, displaying extraordinary stroke-play in his innings at Manuka Oval last Tuesday.

To then bat for nearly six hours in composing a laborious hundred on a sluggish SCG surface where scoring proved difficult necessitated an entirely different set of skills and mental approach.

"The wicket kind of dictated (Smith's approach)," opener Daniel Solway said on day one after he put on 82 for the second wicket with Smith. "If you bowl disciplined, you need to take risks to score and they (WA) bowled quite well.

Smith was eventually dismissed for 103 in bizarre fashion before lunch on day two, appearing nonplussed at the decision to give him out caught behind after trying to ramp a Marcus Stoinis bouncer, with WA keeper Josh Inglis standing up to the stumps.

"I didn't feel as though I hit it but that happens in cricket, you've just got to move on," said Smith.

Smith almost single-handedly held together Australia's top order together earlier this year to ensure the visitors retained the Ashes urn for the first time since 2001.

He has admitted the five-Test series, in which he spent more than 32 hours at the crease and scored 774 runs at 110.57, left him exhausted. 

Now, however, Smith looks ready to resume his run-scoring feats when he plays his first home Test since returning from his 12-month ban earlier this year.

 "I like playing cricket at the Gabba. Australia's got a great record there," he said.

"I'm excited about getting back out there and playing some Test cricket in front of the home fans."

STEVE SMITH'S SLOWEST FIRST-CLASS CENTURIES

290 balls - NSW v Western Australia, SCG (November 2019)

261 balls - Australia v England, Gabba (November 2017)

235 balls - NSW v Tasmania, Drummoyne Oval (October 2019)

227 balls - Australia v India, Ranchi (March 2017)