Veteran Australian batsman Steve Smith scored his 37th century against England at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SGC) in the fifth and final Test of the current Ashes 2025-26 series. He led the side, scoring 138 off 220 balls, as Australia answered with 567 to England’s 384 in the first innings.
Australia began the fourth day of their first innings on 518-7 with Smith 129 not out and Beau Webster on 42. An outstanding delivery from Josh Tongue eventually ended Smith’s marathon stay at the crease. He was taken unawares by a fuller length delivery which came in and held its line. It was Smith’s 332 minutes at the crease, featuring 16 fours and a six.
Smith’s hundred at the SCG moved him to second on most hundreds for a batsman in Ashes. On that note, here are the top five players with most hundreds in the England-Australia Test series.
5. Wally Hammond & David Gower (9)
Hammond and David Gower scored nine hundreds each for England in the Ashes. Hammond featured in 33 matches against Australia, amassing 2,852 runs at an average of 51.85 with nine hundreds and seven half-centuries. Gower played 38 Ashes Tests and scored 3,037 runs at an average of 46.01 with nine centuries and fifties.
Hammond’s highest Ashes score was 251 in Sydney in December 1928. He followed up with a majestic 240 at Lord’s (June 1938) and an unbeaten 231 in Sydney (December 1936). Gower enjoyed an equally successful Test series against the Australians, capping it off with a return of 215 in Birmingham in August 1985. He also made 166 at Nottingham (July, 1985) and 157 at The Oval (August, 1985). Gower scored 732 runs in 1985 Ashes nine innings.
4. Steve Waugh (10)
Australia’s ex-skipper Steve Waugh is at the fourth place amongst most Ashes centuries by a batter. He made 3,173 runs in 45 Tests against England at an average of 58.75, with 10 hundreds and 14 half-centuries. His top Test score against England was 177*, in Leeds in June 1989. The 242-ball innings took 310 minutes (innings declared) and was studded with 24 boundaries.
Waugh’s famous 157* in August 2001 at The Oval, was practically made hopping on one leg. He had missed the fourth Test due to a serious calf muscle tear in Trent Bridge, but returned for the fifth. Waugh had also scored an unbeaten 157 at Leeds in July, 1993. The right-hander plundered a total of 506 runs in the 1989 Ashes at an average of 126.50 from eight innings.
3. Jack Hobbs (12)
England great Hobbs rounds off the top three of most Ashes hundreds by a batsman. In 41 games, he made 3,636 runs at an average of 54.26, including 12 centuries and 15 half-centuries. Hobbs’ highest Test score v Australia was 187, that he made at Adelaide, in January, 1912. His 351-ball innings lasted 334 minutes including 15 fours.
Hobbs also made 178 in Melbourne in February 1912 when he put on 323 for the first wicket with Wilfred Rhodes (179). He also made 154 in Melbourne in January 1925 and 142 at the same ground in March 1929. Hobbs scored 662 runs in nine innings in Ashes 1911-12 at an average of 82.75. He scored 505 runs in Ashes 1920-21 and 573 runs in Ashes 1924-25.
2. Steve Smith (13)
And with his hundred at the SCG, Steve Smith passed Hobbs and went into second place behind Wally Hammond on the list of leading century-makers in Ashes cricket. In 41 games (the ongoing SCG Test included), he has scored 3,691 runs at and an average of 56.78 with 13 centuries and as many half-centuries. At the WACA in Perth in December 2017, he made his highest Ashes total of 239. The innings lasted 578 minutes.
He also hit 215 at Lord’s in July 2015, spending over 500 minutes at the crease and 211 in Manchester in September 2019. The Aussie run-machine piled up 774 runs in seven innings of Ashes 2019 at an average of 110.57, including three centuries. Smith also scored 687 runs in Ashes 2017-18 at an average of 137.40. The right-handed batsman also scored three hundreds in the series.
1. Don Bradman
No surprises here. Aussie great Don Bradman is at the top of the list of batters with most Ashes tons. The former Australian skipper scored a total of 5,028 runs in the 37 matches he played at an average of 89.78, and hit 19 hundreds and 12 half-centuries. His highest Test score versus England was one of 334 at Leeds in July, 1930. The epic 448-ball knock spanned over 383 minutes and was studded with 46 fours.
There was also the 304 in Leeds in July 1934 and the celebrated knock of 270 made by Bradman in the second innings of the Test at Melbourne in 1937, when he went to the wicket number seven. The Aussie batting mastermind also smashed 254 at the famous Lord’s ground in June, 1930. Bradman scored a record total of 974 runs in seven innings in the Ashes 1930, an average of 139.14, including four centuries. He additionally scored 810 runs in Ashes 1936–37 and 758 in the series of 1934.
