The China Mail - Australia's Smith happy to be back at Edgbaston for Ashes opener

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 a ball-tampering scandal.

Some fans even donned cardboard face masks of Smith crying at a press conference during the height of the drama, but the Australian was all smiles by the end of the match.

Australia win that first Test by 251 runs, with Smith making centuries in both innings, scoring 144 and 142, underlining his status as one of the world's best batters.

"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 in Birmingham.

"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."

Smith hit 774 runs in just seven innings in 2019, in a series that ended 2-2, averaging a remarkable 110.57, and his ability to build long innings has the potential to cause England plenty of problems again.

He scored a 31st Test hundred against India during last week's World Test Championship final win at The Oval, but he is not alone as a batting threat.

Australia currently fill the top three spots in the Test rankings -- Smith is at number 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."

D.Pan--ThChM