Australian of the Year: from pitch to the changeroom, Steve Smith passes top test

He’s the boy from the ‘burbs who never finished school. Australia’s Test captain is our Australian of the Year.

The Australian’s Australian of the Year, cricket captain Steve Smith, at the Gabba in Brisbane. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen

If only we had all had a year that traced the same trajectory as Steve Smith’s: a year that began with the first hints of green shoots and finished with a thousand runs blooming.

The Australian captain’s personal achievements defied modern precedent as he led his side undefeated through an Ashes campaign.

It was also a year when no changeroom was left in a worse state than it was found — but more on that later.

Smith, the boy from suburban Sydney who never completed school, is The Australian’s Australian of the Year. In a competitive field, the compelling cricketer won out, as he does, through application, self-discipline and the ability to adapt.

The consummate team ­player, he has introduced a refreshing openness to the office of Aus­tralian captain — often said to be the second highest in the land — while demonstrating all the leadership qualities of great Australian skippers before him.

Others nominated by readers of The Australian pressed Smith for the honour. Dick Smith, entrepreneur, activist but no relation was a popular choice. So too Sally Dunwoodie, medical researcher at the Victor Chang Cardiac ­Research Institute, a woman who has dedicated her professional life to helping babies born with congenital heart defects.

GRAPHIC: Past winners

Author Chrissie Foster was a popular nominee in recognition of the work she has done to fight for justice for those who suffered abuse at the hands of the clergy, as was Kirsty Boden, the nurse who sacrificed her life to save others during a terror attack in London.

Smith is not the first Australian cricket captain to take out the award, Allan Border, Mark Taylor and Michael Clarke having been crowned for their efforts. Smith joins leaders from politics, industry, science, medicine, the military and the arts on the Australian of the Year honour roll.

It was a spectacular 2017 for the 28-year-old, who topped it off by being named in the ICC Test Team of the year along with David Warner and Mitchell Starc. He is without question the best batsman in the world and should he retain his current standings, he will be considered one of the greatest of all time.

The right-hander scored 1305 runs at an average of 76.76 in 2017, the fourth consecutive year he scored 1000 runs. In that time he moved into territory on ICC rankings that only Don Bradman had charted before. His Test average is the second highest in the history of the game.

In November 2016, Smith had looked around him and found Australian cricket in a crisis. The side had lost five consecutive matches and appeared to be wandering from humiliation to humiliation. Displaying a mettle few realised he possessed, Smith stood up after the Hobart Test loss against South Africa and announced he was “embarrassed”, that the team needed to change its ways and possibly its personnel. He was given the ear of the selectors and set about reshaping the team into one of his own. Australia won the next Test against South Africa and has kept on winning.

Smith was honoured to receive the recognition of The Australian and its readers. He reflected on the year past and how he used the time after the loss in Hobart to reset the side.

“I think it was a chance to stamp my authority on the team and try to build it into one that I felt was my team,” he said.

“Hobart was an important moment for me and it helped shape the way I wanted to lead this team and the direction I wanted it to go as well.”

Smith takes leadership tips from where he can find them and admits to being influenced by the successful New Zealand rugby union side. “I have picked up a couple of things from the All Blacks, and one of them is making sure we leave the dressing rooms as tidy as we can when we leave,” he said. “Everyone has to leave the place as we found it and they get fined if they don’t. It’s just a respect thing really.”

Having won the Ashes back, Smith has his sights set on going to England next year and becoming the first captain to retain them on an away tour since Steve Waugh’s side did it in 2001. There is also a World Cup that year on his bucket list.