Steve Waugh is in awe of Steve Smith's century-laden push to rewrite the record books.
Waugh has added his voice to the chorus of former Australia skippers - including Ricky Ponting, Greg and Ian Chappell - who have showered Smith with praise following his unbeaten 141 in the Ashes opener.
Waugh, who sits third on Australia's list of all-time Test run-scorers with 10,927, says his modern-day successor is "incredible".
"He's almost going to rewrite the history books the way he is playing, 21 centuries in 57 Tests - and he didn't do so well in his first 10 or so," Waugh told reporters in Sydney.
"He's got an insatiable appetite for runs, a bit like (Sachin) Tendulkar and Ponting.
"The great players just want to keep scoring runs, they love batting and that's what he does well.
"He concentrates well, overcomes plans well and just when you think you've got him in a weak moment he'll find a way out of it."
England set defensive fields to Smith, hoping to bore him into submission with some short-pitched bowling but the classy right-hander didn't offer a single chance while grafting the nation's slowest Test ton since 2010.
Jimmy Anderson, England's all-time leading wicket-taker and most potent threat, admitted Smith demanded a lot of attention and some unique tactics.
"You've almost got to take him out of the picture when you're bowling," Anderson said in Adelaide, where the second Test starts on Saturday.
"Because if your eyeline is watching him and what he's doing then I think it really distracts you from where you want the ball to go.
"You've got to really try and almost blank him out and really focus on where you want the ball to go.
"The plans to him - I wouldn't say they didn't work but we didn't get him out.
"They worked to an extent. We dried his runs up and made him work really hard for his hundred but obviously we want to get him out."
Anderson admitted Smith's ton was "the difference between the two teams" in Brisbane, where the man of he match led his side to a 1-0 lead in the five-Test series.
