Steve Smith celebrated his 30th Test ton with a celebration that had many scratching their heads. DANIEL CHERNY explains its origins.
Steve Smith has revealed his unorthodox “chainsaw” century celebration was returning serve to a jibe from his buddy and teammate Marnus Labuschagne.
Smith on Thursday posted his 30th Test ton, taking him past Sir Donald Bradman and leaving him behind only Ricky Ponting and Steve Waugh in the list of most Test hundreds for Australia.
While he initially celebrated in conventional fashion, Smith added a late flourish by pumping his arm to imitate a chainsaw.
Why exactly he did this was unclear to most, but the batting great cleared things up after play.
It turns out Smith had been involved in some friendly byplay with Labuschagne over the latter’s dismissal on day one of the third Test at the SCG when he edged South African speedster Anrich Nortje for 79.
“I think it was this morning, Marn was complaining about getting ‘chainsawed.’ Anrich’s ball that got him out kicked up a bit, and chainsawed,” Smith said.
“I said to him, ‘I thought you were out caught on about 70 anyway, so you’ll be right.’
“He goes, ‘Stop being so negative, Steve. I hope you get chainsawed today.’
“So I said, ‘Alright, when I get 100 I’ll reference the chainsaw.’ So that was essentially it.”
Smith and Labuschagne’s relationship has become the stuff of cricket folklore, with batting dynamos renowned for their dedication and quirks.
Smith’s gesture had followed that of Usman Khawaja, who celebrated his own century with some crafty footwork.
“He was dancing around, wasn’t he? It was a bit different,” Smith continued. “But it was a great innings, I thought he played exceptionally well from ball one.”
While Smith fell caught and bowled to Keshav Maharaj for 104, Khawaja was unbeaten on 195 when rain again led to an early finish, leaving Australia 4-475 at stumps on day two.
Smith praised Khawaja for his knock and said that there could still be plenty more runs to come from the opener on Friday.
“Hit his areas, was nice and patient when he needed to be, played the spin well and hopefully he can get 200 or even 300 tomorrow, potentially,” he said. “The wicket’s pretty flat. A few of the footmarks are starting to get a bit bigger, which is nice.
“Even before … I got out, I noted a bit more traffic starting to come onto the surface, so I think that’s a positive sign for us going forward.”
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