Steve Smith pips Sachin Tendulkar with 37th Test century at SCG, surpasses England legend in Ashes ton tally

Steve Smith reached his 37th Test hundred in Sydney in 219 innings, bettering Sachin Tendulkar. (AP Photo)

Australia stand-in captain Steve Smith responded to Joe Root’s 41st Test century with a flawless knock of his own at the Sydney Cricket Ground, smashing his 37th century in the format during the third day of the Ashes contest on Tuesday.

Walking in at the fall of nightwatcher Michael Neser earlier in the day, Smith breezed through to a seamless century after Travis Head made the most of the flattened conditions to slam a whirlwind 163 that reduced the lead of England’s first-innings 384.

Smith edged out Sachin Tendulkar to his 37th Test hundred in only 219 innings, one quicker than the India batting legend who reached the mark in 220 innings. Smith’s compatriot Ricky Ponting remains the fastest to reach the milestone in Tests, having recorded his 37th ton in 212 innings. He is followed by Kumar Sangakkara, who reached there in 218 innings in his career. Interestingly, Root who brought up his 41st Test ton on Monday, remains the slowest to the mark, having bagged his 37th hundred in 284 innings.

More #Ashes history for Steve Smith, who brings up another stunning SCG hundred 👏#MilestoneMoment | @nrmainsurance pic.twitter.com/w76y8wGbWy

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 6, 2026

Smith also overhauled England legend Jack Hobbs with his 13th Ashes century, now only second to the all-time record of Don Bradman who piled on 19 hundreds against England in only 63 innings.

The hundred was also his fifth century at the SCG in 20 innings, levelling his best performance at the Melbourne Cricket Ground where he has slammed five in 22 innings.

Standing in as skipper for Cummins, Smith recorded his 18th Test century as captain. Only Graeme Smith (25), Virat Kohli (20) and Ponting (19) have accorded more such centuries in the oldest format. Averaging over 68, no captain has aggregated more runs at a higher average than Smith in the format.

Last year, Smith made history as the fourth Australian to reach the 10,000-run milestone in Test cricket. Among the elite group of 15 players with over 10,000 runs, Smith’s average of over 56 is the second-highest in history, trailing only Sri Lankan legend Kumar Sangakkara (57.40). His remarkable career statistics include 36 centuries—four of which were double hundreds—and 45 half-centuries.