Australian cricket legend Mike Hussey is amazed by Steve Smith's seemingly insatiable appetite for runs, but wasn't initially sure he had the temperament to go with his undoubted talent.
Smith has gone from strength to strength in recent times and the Australian captain is in the midst of a glorious run of form.
He was recently named the ICC's Cricketer of the Year and Test Cricketer of the Year and stands atop the Test batting rankings.
After a run-drenched 2015, Smith started the new year with a career ODI-high 149 in Tuesday's win over India in Perth.
Yet in 2011 he found himself on the outer from Test cricket for over two years and when he did return it took him 12 matches to notch his first century at that level.
Hussey played alongside Smith in all three forms of the game when the NSW youngster broke into international cricket in 2010.
"I always saw that the talent was there but I didn't know whether the temperament was there," Hussey told AAP on Wednesday.
"When he first came in he was an impetuous young kid.
"He wanted to get there so fast and sometimes that impetuous nature got the better of him and I wasn't sure if he could rein that in.
"But he's obviously a smart kid."
Hussey said it was obvious Smith had gone away and identified areas that he had to work on technically and with his temperament.
"You often hear in his interviews that he's just looking to be a bit more patient, let the bowlers come to him a bit more, let a few more balls go and wait for them to come to him, all those sorts of things which is more about your temperament.
"I think that's an area of his game that's really improved from when I first saw him to now and that's enabled him to give him the opportunity to be able to go and score all these big scores.
"The other thing that's been amazing about him is how hungry for runs he is.
"He's got that appetite for runs and for any batsman that's a great thing to have.
"But to have it so consistently and want it all the time is just amazing sign of his character."
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