JUSTIN LANGER: Steve Smith’s path to redemption near complete with 10,000 Test run milestone in Sri Lanka

Ricky Ponting was in the commentary seat. Indian cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar had moved into the position next to him. Steve Waugh was in the grandstand looking on, and Allan Border was in the commentary box next door.

The moment was surreal.

Only 14 players in cricket history have scored 10,000 Test match runs, and four of them were at the Sydney Cricket Ground to witness this significant moment.

About 42,000 people sat on the edge of their seats waiting, watching, praying, hoping, for Steve Smith to score his 10,000th run in Test cricket. The atmosphere was like a rock concert.

Cinderella stories rarely materialise in professional sport. It’s just the nature of the beast, but in this instance, surely Smith’s redemption story was about to be completed on his home turf at the SCG.

Surely?

But, like an unwelcome gate-crasher at a party, a rearing ball took off from a good length, hitting the gloves of the superstar batsman and ballooning into the safe hands of the Indian gully fieldsman.

Ponting threw his hands up in the air in disbelief, while Gavaskar leant back in his chair and shook his head.

Their reactions mirrored the responses of the masses gathered at the ground, or in front of their television sets or radios. The collective gasp was palpable.

Waugh sat as only the “Iceman” could – stern, expressionless. But knowing “Tugga”, he would have been disappointed not to have witnessed a memorable moment in time.

So, 9999 runs. An extraordinary performance. But we were all there for the fairytale, that elusive number of 10,000 _ not the one-run short of that target that we had just witnessed.

Trudging off the ground, our attention turned to the next time Australia was playing a Test match.

What a letdown it would be for Smith to go past his milestone in Galle, Sri Lanka.

Smith’s legacy will be complex - a reminder that greatness and fallibility often coexist in our sporting heroes.

But would it?

Sir Donald Bradman scored a duck in his last Test innings, robbing himself of an average of 100 or more. He had to settle for 99.9. He is immortal.

Last Wednesday afternoon at 1.11pm Perth time the modern-day run machine, hit his first ball to mid-on for a single.

There may not have been 40,000 home fans in the house and the former legends were absent, but there was nothing that could steal Smith’s happiness.

Speaking to him on Wednesday night he confessed he found the moment to be “emotional and very special”.

Why wouldn’t it be? Ten thousand Test runs, another century, and all this with the Australian captaincy tag back on his chest.

An emotional person, it was clear how much Wednesday’s milestone meant to him. We have been friends a long time and I have loved watching him grow over the years.

This amazing achievement came from a person I have come to admire greatly, a man who epitomises a couple of lines from Rudyard Kipling’s poem IF.

“If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you.

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you but make allowance for their doubting too. Or, being hated, don’t give way to hating.

If you can make one heap of all your winnings, and risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss, and lose, and start again at your beginnings, and never breathe a word about your loss.”

During his exile, Smith faced his greatest test - not on the field, but in rebuilding himself.

After leaving South Africa like he was a criminal, a terrible scene, he spent time reflecting, rehabilitating, playing grade cricket, working with underprivileged children, and quietly preparing for his return. He never ‘”breathed a word about his loss’”

During Sandpapergate, there was panic throughout the crisis, as there often is in crisis situations.

The captain took the fall, as did other good people. When in charge, the best leaders take the blame when things go wrong. He did, even though he was not the only one to commit that sporting sin.

Greg Chappell was responsible for the infamous underarm delivery. That’s been forgiven but will never be forgotten.

Interestingly, the back story of Chappell’s frame of mind at that time wasn’t revealed until years later. That was a time when mental health was a taboo subject - tough guys and all that.

In Smith’s case, people doubted his return, citing a lack of trust and respect.

Some still feel the same today.

When asked at my first press conference as Australian coach whether he would be welcomed back into the team, my instant response was “yes”. I followed this reply with: “There is not a single person in this room who hasn’t made a mistake in their lives.”

If you say you haven’t, you’re a liar.

My view was, and is, that it is not just the mistake, but rather how a person responds to the mistake that can hold gravitas.

Some mistakes are graver than others, and the penalties usually match the error.

But a person’s character can be judged on how they rehabilitate from their errors in judgement. Not everyone agrees with my sentiment, some are far less forgiving. I get it, but that’s my view.

Then there was the hate. On his return in England, I have never seen anger and hate like it. Adults behaving so poorly it was embarrassing. The young man had paid his penalty, but for some nothing but a public execution would satisfy their thirst for retribution.

Coming back in the 2019 Ashes was something special. Twin hundreds at Edgbaston in the first Test - you couldn’t write a better script.

When he went past the century mark in that first innings, an electric shock of emotion went through my body as I sat watching on the Edgbaston balcony.

I can only wonder what his family were feeling at that time.

We all knew what he had been through and now he was back to make amends.

The fidgeting was still there, the unique technique hadn’t changed, but there was something different about him.

A sense of gratitude, maybe. An understanding that every innings for Australia is a gift. He was saying sorry, and thank you with his bat, while silencing the doubters and winning over even his harshest critics.

In the second Test he was hit in the head by lightning fast Jofra Archer. Some booed him off the ground. Those who cared for him watched on in horror.

He missed the next Test through concussion, and it’s not lost on me that his absence was in the same game that Ben Stokes played a miracle innings to draw the series.

We missed his runs, but we also missed his strength under pressure.

Returning for the fourth Test he returned another big century. “Bradmanesque” was the call. The Ashes were retained, and Smith was the hero.

In the final Test, Smith received a standing ovation from a crowd which only a few weeks ago might as well have been calling for a public beheading. I have never seen anything like it. That was the first step in his redemption story.

In all my years in cricket - as a player, coach, and now watching from the sidelines - I’ve never seen anyone with such an insatiable hunger for runs.

He’s not just a run-machine; he’s a student of the game who’s written his own textbook.

What people don’t see is the preparation. The hours of throwdowns, the meticulous analysis of bowlers, the constant tinkering with his technique. Even after all these years he is never satisfied. That’s what makes him different. That’s what makes him great.

The highest praise I can give him?

He’s made his own way. In an era where everyone wants to copy the textbook, he’s thrown it out the window and written his own rules. That takes something special.

Today, Smith stands as a testament to cricket’s capacity for redemption.

His journey from promising leg-spinner to batting genius - through the depths of disgrace and back to the heights of success - has added layers to his legacy that extend beyond statistics.

While his technique will never be taught in coaching manuals, his determination, ability to overcome adversity, and sheer love for batting have earned him a special place in cricket’s narrative.

His story reminds us that in sport, as in life, it’s not just about the rises or the falls, but about the character revealed in how one handles both.

Smith’s legacy will be complex - a reminder that greatness and fallibility often coexist in our sporting heroes.

This week, as he became the 15th player in cricket to score 10,000 Test runs, there may not have been the fanfare of a roaring crowd, but that won’t matter to him.

He knows what it has taken to get to where he is today.

He knows, and those who know him know. That will be enough for today’s Australian Test captain.