Overview
- Smith passed Steve Waugh’s tally of 10,927 during the first innings of the opening Test at Kingsmead in Durban on Friday, October 9, 2026, reaching the mark with a brief 25-run innings.
- He now sits third on Australia’s all-time Test list behind Ricky Ponting and Allan Border with about 10,945 career Test runs, roughly 37 centuries and a career average near 56.00.
- The achievement came as Australia began a three-Test red-ball tour of South Africa, Smith travelling as vice-captain to Pat Cummins in the team’s first full Test visit to the country since the 2018 ball-tampering scandal.
- South Africa remains a clear statistical weak spot for Smith, where he averages about 41.10 across his six Tests and has only one Test century there, scored at Centurion in 2014.
- Smith is roughly 230 runs short of Allan Border’s second-place total and can pursue that target across the two remaining Tests, a chase that will also shape assessments of his legacy and adaptability in South African conditions.