Steve Smith took his tally of Test catches to 221 during day three of the first Test against South Africa in Durban, moving past England’s Joe Root to become the leading non-wicketkeeper fielder in the format’s history. The milestone came almost unnoticed amid a lopsided day of cricket at Kingsmead, but it capped a four-catch haul from Smith that teammates and commentators alike struggled to find adequate words for.
Four Catches, One Record
Smith’s day began with two catches off Nathan Lyon’s bowling, both taken diving to his left at slip as South African batters went for the reverse sweep — Temba Bavuma was the first victim, with the ball catching him in front of his chest before Smith clung on, and Kyle Verreynne followed soon after, snaffled in Smith’s outstretched right hand. It was the Verreynne catch that pushed his career tally to 221, overtaking Root’s long-standing mark. He was not finished: later in the innings he dove in front of his own first slip partner, Matthew Renshaw, to pouch David Bedingham off Pat Cummins, and then completed the South African innings by taking the final catch to dismiss Beau Webster off Anrich Nortje.
“An Absolute Freak”
Nathan Lyon, the bowler who benefited from two of the four catches, didn’t hold back in his assessment. “He’s an absolute freak,” Lyon said of his teammate after play. It is not idle praise from a bowler who has built a career partly on the catches taken behind him; Lyon’s own figures of 2-58 in the innings were underpinned directly by Smith’s work at slip.
From Durban’s Villain to Durban’s Record-Breaker
The symbolism was not lost on anyone following the series. This is Australia’s first Test tour of South Africa since the 2018 tour on which Smith was banned for his role in the ball-tampering scandal that unfolded in Cape Town, a saga that cost him the Australian captaincy and a year of international cricket. Eight years on, in the same country, Smith produced the kind of virtuoso fielding performance that has quietly become as central to his legacy as his batting — a reminder that careers derailed by scandal can still be rebuilt on the same soil where they were damaged.
A Skill Often Overlooked
Slip catching rarely draws the acclaim reserved for centuries and five-wicket hauls, and some South African observers were quick to note that two of Smith’s catches came directly from inside edges off reverse sweeps — shots some batting purists consider needlessly risky in the first place. The counter-argument from the Australian camp is straightforward: fielding statistics measure opportunities taken, not shots offered, and Smith’s reflexes and positioning at slip have made him the one Australian fielder opposition batters most fear picking out with any loose stroke, regardless of the delivery that creates the chance.
A Career Built on Fine Margins
Smith’s rise past Root adds another layer to one of the most compared rivalries in the modern game, with the two batters having spent a decade being measured against each other for Test average, major hundreds and now, increasingly, fielding craft. Root remains a prolific catcher in his own right and will have further opportunities to reclaim the mark when England next take the field, but for now the record belongs to the Australian at the centre of one of the sport’s most dramatic redemption arcs.
What’s Next
Smith and Australia will look to close out victory in Durban before the series shifts to St George’s Park in Gqeberha from October 18-22, where South Africa’s slip cordon will be under renewed scrutiny of its own. With Australia 139 runs ahead and South Africa fighting to save the first Test, Smith’s slip-catching form adds another dimension to a series South Africa, the reigning World Test Champions, cannot afford to let slip further.
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