Steve Smith has had an extremely interesting career, so far. The Australian cricketer started out as a leg-spinner but he settled to become a batter and that, too, an elite one at that. He has toppled a lot of records with the bat in Tests and has already joined the league of the likes of Ricky Ponting for Australia. Smith made his debut in 2010 against Pakistan at the Lord’s. Australia eventually won that game. When Smith made his debut, there were a few players who did not end up having a memorable Test career. On that note, here, we look at two players you might not know who played in Steve Smith’s debut Test match in 2010.
1) Marcus North
Marcus North is one player who played a few Tests for Australia, especially after the retirement of a few legends in the middle order. In total, the southpaw played 21 Tests for his nation.
North actually had a few memorable games in his career. In the 21 Tests, he scored 1171 runs, a tally that also includes five centuries. Australia also often made use of his right-arm off-spin, which resulted in a total of 14 wickets for Australia. He was a versatile cricketer and a useful one for the Aussies.
2) Doug Bollinger
Doug Bollinger is one of the players you might not know who played in Steve Smith’s debut Test match in 2010. The left-arm pacer is known for his stint in T20Is but he also enjoyed a few fine phases playing for Australia in Tests.
He played 12 Tests for the nation and ended up with 50 wickets. It was at that time that Australia was transitioning to a new pace attack in Tests. Doug Bollinger is one player who was a short part of that time. It is interesting that despite taking 50 Test wickets, Bollinger is mainly remembered for his time with Chennai Super Kings in the IPL.
