Steve Smith is happy to be kicking off another Ashes series at Edgbaston, four years on from a performance he ranks as the most enjoyable of his 97 Tests in a Baggy Green.
The notoriously raucous Birmingham crowd subjected Smith and team-mate David Warner to a volley of boos and jeers in 2019, as the pair made their return to Test cricket following year-long bans for their roles in the sandpaper scandal.
Some fans in the notoriously merciless Eric Hollies Stand even donned cardboard face masks of Smith crying at a press conference during the height of the ball-tampering drama, but the Australian was all smiles by the end of the match.
Not only did Australia win that first Test by 251 runs, Smith made centuries in both innings as he reeled off knocks of 144 and 142 to re-assert himself as a master of his craft after 12 months in exile.
“I think that Test match is probably my favourite out of my career so far, given the circumstances and the importance of a first Ashes Test, particularly away from home,” he said ahead of Friday’s series opener.
“I’ve had a couple of good ones. It would be nice to repeat it again but I’m just going to go out there and go through my routines and do what I need to do, and hopefully I can score some runs and help the team out.
“Coming back here I’ve got some wonderful memories and some things I can draw from.
“However I know it’s a new series, it’s a new year, a new Ashes, so I can draw on those experiences but not read too much into it.
“You go to different grounds around the world that you’ve done well at and you can take some positives out of those and sort of move forward with them, but ultimately it’s another game.”
Smith hit 774 runs in just seven innings in 2019, averaging a remarkable 110.57, and his ability to bat long and deep has the potential to cause England plenty of problems again.
He restated his fondness for the conditions with a 31st Test hundred against India during last week’s World Test Championship win over India at the Kia Oval, but while he will undoubtedly be a prize scalp he is not alone.
On Tuesday the latest set of ICC player rankings were published, giving Australia all three of the world’s top three batters. Smith settled in at two, behind Marnus Labuschagne and narrowly ahead of the in-form Travis Head.
“I think it’s cool to see us all at the top of the tree,” Smith said.
“I think those two in particular, the improvements they’ve made over the last four or five years have been exceptional. We all do it completely differently, obviously Trav comes out and plays very aggressively and takes the game on. It’s sort of a ‘see ball, hit ball’ mentality.
“Marnus and I probably think our way through situations a little bit differently, but it is cool to see the hard work of those guys pay off and for them to get themselves up there in the rankings.”