Smith acting like a captain

After a merry Christmas meal you expect some antics, not semantics. But this year discussion turned to the wording of Steven Smith's current job title. "When Tony Abbott goes overseas Warren Truss is not prime minister, he is acting prime minister," said Family Member A, extrapolating that it was wrong to call Smith Australia's Test captain while Michael Clarke was still around.

"But if Tony Abbott was incapacitated and could not perform his duties, Warren Truss would become prime minister," Family Member B contended, uncertain of the veracity of this statement but reflecting on John McEwen briefly taking office after Harold Holt disappeared. Family Member C, struggling to follow the intricacies of the debate, confusedly argued against both viewpoints.

Family Member D said: "I've heard of Steven Smith, but who's Warren Truss?"

Truss is Australia's 16th deputy prime minister and Smith, rightly or wrongly, is regarded by history as Australia's 45th Test captain. He was sworn in by Australian cricket's governor-general Mark Taylor on the first morning at the Gabba, where Taylor presented him with the ceremonial captain's blazer. He tossed the coin and handed MS Dhoni a team sheet with the captaincy box ticked next to his own name.

Whatever the nomenclature - captain, acting captain, caretaker captain - all that really matters is that Smith has led from the front over his first two Tests in charge. On the second day at the MCG, he became the first man to score a century in each of his first two Tests as captain of Australia. For the time being, he has the highest batting average for an Australian captain.

Smith is having the most remarkable year in 2014, and the leadership sits comfortably with him given his current form. His first act upon being placed in charge at the Gabba was to promote himself to No.4, recognition that as the team's captain and most in-form middle-order batsman, the responsibility was his to ensure he spent as long as possible at the crease.

During the 2011-12 series against India in Australia, Clarke annihilated India batting at No.5, scoring a triple-century in Sydney and a double-hundred in Adelaide. But consider this: Australia scored 2372 runs in that series and 50% of them were made while Clarke was at the crease. So far this summer Australia have made 1972 runs, and Smith has been out there for 63% of them.

Part of the reason is that Smith has batted so well with the lower order, and so it was again at the MCG. Late on the first afternoon, Smith was on 52 when he was joined by the out-of-form Brad Haddin with only the bowlers to follow. The total was 5 for 216. Trouble beckoned. Just before tea nearly 24 hours later, Smith was the last man out, bowled for 192. Australia had reached 530.

Similarly, in Brisbane, Smith had ensured that Australia more than doubled their first-innings total to 505 from 5 for 232. Smith made 133 and was the eighth man out. India's inability to run through Australia's tail has been an ongoing theme in this series. Australia's average partnership for the first to fifth wickets in this series has been 47.52; for the sixth to tenth wickets it is 60.30.

Australia have had seven century partnerships in the series and only three have come for wickets one to five. The four from wickets six to ten have all featured Smith: 163 with Clarke (who had retired hurt) for the seventh wicket in Adelaide; 148 with Mitchell Johnson for the seventh wicket in Brisbane; and at the MCG 110 with Haddin for the sixth wicket and 106 with Ryan Harris for the eighth.

Johnson, Haddin and Harris all outscored Smith during these partnerships. He realised they were finding the middle of the bat and played the secondary role. Not that he has ever been bogged down. Smith is busy to the point of hyperactivity, twitching, fiddling, turning ones into twos and twos into threes. But he knows when to play the lead and when to play the support.

"I think our guys have done terrific," Smith said of the tail. "They've come out and taken the bowlers on. Mitch Johnson again today looked good and Ryan Harris came out and batted beautifully. I don't think they really had an answer for the way they were playing. I think it's great for us that the tail can do that and come out and be really aggressive."

Not that Smith takes the full Steve Waugh approach of taking a single off the first ball of an over and allowing the opposition to have a crack at the tail. When Johnson and Harris were striking the ball well, he would gladly cede the strike, but late in Australia's first innings in Melbourne he started to refuse singles when Nathan Lyon and Josh Hazlewood came to the crease.

By that stage Smith was going hard, swinging for the boundary, for a maiden double-century, and for as many runs as possible before his planned tea declaration. Dhoni set the fielders back on the fence to make life difficult and Smith was eventually bowled trying to ramp Umesh Yadav over the keeper's head in search of one of the few gaps on the boundary.

It meant his average for the 2014 calendar year plummeted to 87.07. In the first innings of Tests this year, Smith has averaged 107.12, with five centuries when the match was there to be set up. With a 10 innings minimum, Smith is second only to Don Bradman on Australia's all-time first-innings batting averages.

When he reached his third hundred from consecutive Tests, Smith raised his bat to all areas of the MCG. Australia have two captains right now and at that moment it was clear who was in what box - Clarke in the commentary one for Channel Nine, Smith the ticked one on the team sheet. Ultimately semantics are irrelevant. All that matters is that Smith is acting like a captain.