Australia’s Steve Smith scored a magnificent 144 on his return to Test cricket after a ball-tampering scandal to halt England’s charge on the opening day of the Ashes at Edgbaston.
The former captain dragged the tourists from 122-8 to 284 all out, with England surviving two overs to close on 10-0.
Smith, joining team-mates David Warner and Cameron Bancroft in making his Test comeback, was booed to the crease and witnessed a collapse of five wickets for 23 runs from the non-striker’s end.
He finally found a capable ally in number 10 Peter Siddle, the 34-year-old playing only his third Test in three years.
They added 88 for the ninth wicket, frustrating England and silencing the crowd until Siddle was caught at short leg off Moeen Ali for 44.
Smith, who was on 85 when he was joined by last man Nathan Lyon, drove Ben Stokes for four to reach his 24th Test century, then cut loose to punish the weary bowlers.
Fantastic to have some of our #Ashes 2005 legends on the pitch today! 🦁🏴👏 pic.twitter.com/vMqIXdYj9n
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) August 1, 2019
The last-wicket pair shared 74, taking advantage of an England attack without James Anderson, who is awaiting the results of a scan on a calf injury that restricted him to only four overs.
When Smith was eventually bowled to give Stuart Broad his fifth wicket, Rory Burns and Jason Roy negotiated an awkward period in the gloom without alarm.
Broad took a five-for as he registered his 100th Ashes wicket in a fine spell of 5-86, while Chris Woakes added 3-58.
England batsman Jos Buttler told Sky Sports: “It was a little bit frustrating in the end. It’s tough. Steve played a fantastic innings. We’ve got to try and find a way of keeping the dismissal in the game as well.
“We never quite got enough balls at the 10 and 11 in one go. It’s tough to say if that’s par. Going a bowler down, it was a bit tricky for the guys to keep going, but an exceptional innings from Smith, and we’ll see what kind of score it is tomorrow.”
