By Andrew Wu
Manchester: In between renditions of John Williamson's True Blue and the team song Under the Southern Cross I Stand, song master Nathan Lyon pulled Steve Smith into the middle of the circle.
As the entire Australian touring party, plus retired great Glenn McGrath, stood arm in arm at Old Trafford, Lyon declared his admiration of Smith.
Nathan Lyon and Steve Smith sing to Australia's retention of the Ashes in England.Credit: Getty Images
It would not be fair to quote him verbatim but a G-rated version would go along the lines of after all he's been through, he's still the best cricketer in the world.
Just as the 1981 series belonged to Ian Botham and 2005 to Andrew Flintoff, in the decades to come 2019 will be remembered for the deeds of one man. These are Steve Smith's Ashes.
Australia have the urn because Smith was on their side. England do not because he was not on theirs. In a series dominated by the bowlers, Smith stood above all else.
In the eight games Australia played last season sans Smith, who was serving a 12-month ball-tampering ban, they won just three, two of them against an outclassed Sri Lanka.
In England, they won the two Tests he completed, escaped with a draw in the one he did not and lost the game he missed.
England have run out of ideas to get him out and the gap between Smith and the rest is so great they should try giving him a single at the start of each over to target the man at the other end, as teams do when a senior batsman is accompanied by a tailender. As great as Smith is, not even he can bat without a partner.
If not for the world's No.1 batsman, it could have been England regaining the urn with victory in the fourth Test.
At Edgbaston, Smith hauled Australia out of the furnace with a century in the first innings, then took the game away from England with his hundred in the second. Here, all but 140 of Australia's runs came with Smith in the middle.
"Look at the Test matches and there have been times when one guy has made a difference and that has probably cost us the urn this time around," England captain Joe Root said.
"Every batter, bar Steve Smith, has been under pressure. It's been one of those summers where batting has been hard.
"Steve Smith has been hard work to get out. Ultimately, he was the difference this Test match."
After Jofra Archer's frightful spell at Lord's, England had come into the game believing they had the weapons to bring Smith down.
When told Smith had pointed out Archer did not dismiss him, the Test rookie was quick to shoot back that he could not get out someone who was not there. But as he would learn, he could not get Smith out when he was there either.
The scorebook says Smith has been out five times this series but what they do not show is that on three occasions he gave himself up for the good of the team.
Captain Tim Paine delivered a warning that the man averaging 134 this series and who has been compared to the greatest of them all in Don Bradman is yet to reach his peak. Watch out Pakistan and New Zealand, whom Australia play at home this summer.
"Anyone who's watched him bat knows the talent, hunger and skill that he has got. People don't see how driven he is and how he trains, eats and sleeps batting," Paine said.
"He is just a genius and I never had any doubt he would come back and be the player he was.
"The scary thing is he's getting better. I don't know where it is going to stop but we are enjoying being on the ride, that is for sure."
STEVE SMITH'S 2019 ASHES SERIES IN NUMBERS:
- 30 - Smith's age
- 671 - Runs Smith scored
- 134.20 - Smith's average this series
- 3 - Centuries Smith has registered
- 67 - Tests Smith has played for Australia
- 211 - Smith's highest score of the series
- 6 - Catches Smith has taken
- 998 - Balls Smith has faced
- 64.81 - Smith's Test average
- 67.23 - Smith's strike-rate
- 79 - Fours Smith has hit
- 4 - Sixes Smith has struck
PA