Steve Smith's hundred celebration was response to own teammate's sledge

05 January 2023 , 12:28

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Steve Smith's 'chainsaw' celebration was in response to a sledge from his own teammate Marnus Labuschagne (Image: Brett Hemmings - CA/Cricket Australia via Getty Images)

Steve Smith made history when he struck his 30th Test century against South Africa in the third and final Test in Sydney, going past the legendary Sir Donald Bradman as Australia's joint third highest century maker.

Smith now sits level with former opener Matthew Hayden, with only Steve Waugh (32) and Ricky Ponting (41) ahead of him. However, it was Smith's celebration after he reached three figures which got plenty of fans talking as he mimed using a chainsaw while batting partner Usman Khawaja looked on and laughed.

And when asked about his celebration, Smith explained it was a reference to a sledge from teammate Marnus Labuschagne who told him "I hope you get 'chainsawed'" before the start of play.

"I assume you're referring to the chainsaw," he told reporters. "This morning Marn was complaining about getting 'chainsawed'.

"Anrich's ball that got him out kicked up a bit and he got 'chainsawed'. So I said to him, 'I thought you were out caught on about 70 anyway, so you'll be alright, no worries.'

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"He goes, 'Stop being so negative, Steve. I hope you get 'chainsawed' today.' So I said, 'Alright, when I get a hundred, I'll reference the chainsaw.'"

Smith also reflected on the milestones he passed during his innings, having also overtaken Michael Clarke to move into fourth on the list of Australia's all-time leading Test run scorers behind Ponting, Allan Border and Waugh.

"I don't think about that stuff a great deal, but I did look up at the board just after I got a 100 and to sit third on the list of all time Australians [with Test hundreds], there's some pretty big names there so that's pretty cool," he said.

"Fourth on the run scorers list [too] … I don't play for that kind of stuff but it was cool to look up and see my name amongst those great players. It was pretty special."

Matthew Cooper