How many have scored twin centuries in an Ashes test?

'Veni, Vidi, Vici' - Steve Smith came, he saw and he conquered. His batting against England in the first test of the 2019 Ashes belies the fact that he was away from the international cricket for one year. He came into the match without any top-level red ball practice, but his batting genius and a strong penchant to accumulate runs meant that the big score to seal his comeback was just around the corner. And England had to bear the brunt in the very first match.

Smith scored 144 off 219 balls in the first innings, dragging his team from a perilous 122/8 to a challenging total of 284. In the second innings, he racked up another century, his 25th in Test cricket. His 142 off 207 balls in the second innings broke numerous records on its way. Especially, it placed him in an elite list of batsmen who have scored centuries in both innings of an Ashes Test, a feat that even Sir Don Bradman failed to achieve. Here is a list of the batsmen who have achieved this rare distinction, with Australians proving to be the majority.

Name	First Innings	Second Innings	Total runs	Match date
Warren Bardsley (Australia)	136	130	266	9 Aug 1909
Herbert Sutcliffe (England)	176	127	303	1 Jan 1925
Wally Hammond (England)	119*	177	296	1 Feb 1929
Denis Compton (England)	147	103*	250	31 Jan 1947
Arthur Morris (Australia)	122	124*	246	31 Jan 1947
Steve Waugh (Australia)	108	116	224	3 July 1997
Matthew Hayden (Australia)	197	103	300	7 Nov 2002
Steve Smith (Australia)	144	142	286	1 Aug 2019

Steve Smith is the only batsman to score hundreds in each innings of an Ashes Test in the last 17 years, with the last person being Matthew Hayden in 2002. Arthur Morris and Denis Compton achieved this feat in the same Test in 1947, a match that ended in a draw.

The way Steve Smith is batting right now, it is only natural to expect that more records will tumble in the future, and he will find himself in such exclusive lists.

***All data till 4 August 2019***