Steve Smith puts team first yet again

Steve Smith has made a team-first decision at the MCG, denying himself a shot at a couple of personal milestones by declaring Australia's second innings.

In Steve Smith's previous Test at the MCG he delayed declaring to ensure Australia claimed a series win.

It's hard to compare that drawn clash with India and the 2015 match against West Indies.

For starters, Australia were about to return to the SCG for the first time since Phillip Hughes was felled at the venue.

"I thought it was going to be extremely tough for the boys," Smith said at the time, explaining his call that was panned as too conservative by many.

Smith, then filling in for injured captain Michael Clarke, has grown immensely as a leader since.

The 26-year-old is still in the fledgling stages of his captaincy - the second match against West Indies is his eight Test in charge of the side.

He is undoubtedly their leader.

Take for example a public rebuke of Mitchell Starc in Brisbane and assertive on-field body language that resulted in the moniker 'captain grumpy' from some pundits.

Smith's true hallmark has been putting the team above everything else.

The right-hander could easily have batted again on Tuesday but he threw away a chance to achieve a career first by posting a ton in each innings of the Test.

It would also have been Smith's seventh Test ton for the year - a feat only one other Australian has achieved; Ricky Ponting.

Based on the way Smith was batting on Monday it could have come very quickly - he was on 70 and had been finding gaps with remarkable ease.

But with the the third and final Test starting on Sunday, Smith wanted to give his bowlers every chance of earning an extra day off.

With a 459-run lead on the board he knew Australia gained little by batting on.

Adam Voges knows Smith's team-first mantra well.

Voges was on 83 at the Gabba and 269 in Hobart when Smith ended Australia's innings.

Smith has attracted some criticism in his first summer since Clarke's retirement.

Some pundits and punters bemoaned his declaration at the WACA, where New Zealand were set a target of 321 in a minimum of 48 overs on a flat wicket.

It didn't sit well with recently retired paceman Ryan Harris.

"When it's 500 plays 500 and then the captain gets criticised for not making a game of it, that's just poor," Harris recently told AAP.

"I've had people ask my why he didn't make a game of it.

"It's ridiculous that Steve Smith copped a bit of criticism about it."


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Source: AAP



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