On eve of Ashes, Steven Smith’s succession to Ricky Ponting is clear for Australia

Steven Smith has seen a meteoric rise into the No 3 position for Australia, finally bridging the link to Ricky Ponting that many others have failed to solidify.

Australia's Steven Smith shown after scoring a century in the Ashes in 2013. Alastair Grant / AP / August 22, 2013

When Steven Smith took guard in Dominica on June 3, he made the final step in his remarkable journey from leg-spinning joke-maker to run-hungry record-breaker.

By his recent standards the innings was unremarkable, 25 from 90 balls against a moderate West Indian attack, but he did it from No 3.

Australia have, over the years, prized that position more than most.

It is where the inimitable Sir Donald Bradman forged his legacy; the position Ricky Ponting made his own for a glorious decade between 2001 and 2011.

When it was put to Australians that Kevin Pietersen was disinclined to bat at first drop for England it drew scorn; it was simply where the best batsman should play.

Yet something changed after Ponting surrendered to the ravages of time by preceding his retirement with a drop down the order.

The replacements came and went, some more quickly than others, some more successfully.

Shaun Marsh, Usman Khawaja, Shane Watson, Ed Cowan and Alex Doolan all took a turn, but it was not until Smith capped his stunning rise to prominence by accepting the job that it felt quite right.

Australia seem sure to have found their next great No 3, and it would be no surprise to see Smith matching Ponting’s 10-year tenure.

But such a claim would have seemed fantastical in the early days of his international career.

Initially selected for his promise as a wrist-spinner, he batted three times at No 8 and once at 9 in his first two Tests.

He was dropped after a brief dabble at 6 and recalled to a new role for the final match of the 2010/11 Ashes series.

Again his leg-spin was favoured over his batting – he was deployed at 7 this time – but there was also another job to fulfil.

“I’ve been told that I’ve got to come into the side and be fun,” he revealed.

“It’s about having energy in the field and making sure I’m having fun and making sure everyone else around is having fun, whether it be telling a joke or something like that.”

With his bowling hardly pulling up trees and runs scarce, he was painted in some quarters as a glorified court jester – the butt of punchlines as much as the creator of them.

There was more to Smith than that though – a determination to succeed, a willingness to take his fate by the scruff of the neck and a quite stunning run-scoring ability that was waiting to be unleashed.

A first Test century against England at the Oval in 2013 was a watershed, 138 reasons to believe Smith could deliver as a Baggy Green batsman – and since the start of 2014 he has done nothing but.

In 12 Tests he has scored seven more hundreds at a staggering average of 89.83, creeping up the order until landing at first wicket down in the Caribbean.

In that time he surpassed Bradman’s Australian record of 715 runs in a single series, compiling 769 against India.

In Smith’s last match – his second in his new, prestigious position – he cracked a career-best 199 to go top of the ICC’s batting rankings.

A look at his statistics in one-day cricket, which tell a similarly irresistible story, merely underlines his newfound colossus status.

England have played against Smith before, but they have never seen anything like Australia’s new No 3.

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