Steve Smith Emerging as Australia's Next Star Across All of Cricket's Formats

It may take you by surprise that, prior to Tuesday's clash with Pakistan at Sharjah, Steve Smith had never passed 46 with the bat in a limited-overs contest for Australia. 

Perhaps more surprising is that the rapidly emerging Smith had been awarded 59 attempts (38 one-day internationals and 21 Twenty20 internationals) prior to Tuesday to do so, failing to register a single half-century for his nation in that time. 

The statistic becomes more staggering when one considers the excellence the 25-year-old has exhibited in the Test arena, where the talented right-hander has struck 941 runs since the beginning of the 2013 Ashes series in England, accumulating that tally at an average of 44.80 while racking up four fine hundreds. 

It would be tempting, therefore, to declare Tuesday's 50-over encounter with Pakistan—a match that saw the visitors thrash the home side by 93 runs—as something of a coming-out party for Smith. A limited-overs graduation, if you like. 

But that wasn't what Tuesday was. While his smooth 101 on a difficult wicket in the UAE was his maiden century in his country's colours, his display wasn't anything we haven't seen before from the New South Welshman.

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Tuesday's knock was Smith at his finest: He shrewdly rotated the strike, challenged the opposing fielders, scampered between the wickets, ran with twinkle toes at the spinners, made crunching blows only when they were needed and opted for caution against the opposition's best.

Despite striking only eight boundaries, the blond-haired Australian with that idiosyncratic technique maintained a strike rate of more than 85 on a two-paced strip, shrugging aside his team's regular setbacks to post his total in just 118 deliveries.

"He's a busy cricketer" is a phrase that's used all too often, but it does encapsulate the essence of Smith's game more than it does for most.

"[I was] trying to spend time in the middle, get the ones and twos, hit the bad balls, that was pretty much my plan," Smith said in the aftermath of Australia's victory at Sharjah, per ESPN Cricinfo.

"That is what I have been working on [pacing my innings]. That is what I was able to do, and the others batted around me," the centurion added. 

While his limited-overs record was underwhelming prior to Tuesday's hundred—it still is, in fact, with Smith averaging just a tick over 24 in the 50-over game and only 14 in the 20-over version—there's an obvious rationale for that set of numbers: timing. 

Of his 39 one-day internationals, 32 came prior to August 2012 when the now-blossoming Australian was operating in cricket's uncomfortable no-man's land inhabited by part-time, leg-spinning all-rounders. All but one of his 21 Twenty20 internationals came during that same period. 

He's now a top-order batsman. A mighty fine one. 

Smith's initial rise, in contrast to the majority, has taken place in front of the red ball and not the white one. It hasn't been until now that the next Australian captain in waiting has possessed the tools to thrive when facing the latter. 

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In the Test arena, Smith's value to this Australian side has been obvious. His four recent hundreds—three against England, one against South Africa—resulted in three victories and a draw for Australia. That he made his runs when others didn't was even more notable. 

Yet his value to his nation's limited-overs sides hasn't been quite so clear. Until now, anyway. In fact, suddenly his worth feels elementary: He complements Australia's muscle with nous, adding subtlety to the team's brutality. 

Never was such a need highlighted so intensely as it was at this year's ICC World Twenty20 in Bangladesh, when Australia's roll call of herculean strikers was dismantled as the team cried out for brains to mix with the brawn. 

And it was that very theme that surrounded Smith's innings against Pakistan on Tuesday; the side's deep well of brute force (David Warner, Aaron Finch, George Bailey, Glenn Maxwell and James Faulkner) bailed out by a craftier teammate.

"It is my ambition to play all three forms for Australia," Smith said back in June, per ESPN Cricinfo. 

On Tuesday's evidence, that ambition will quickly become a permanent reality.