Steve Smith explained his bizarre ‘chainsaw’ celebration was a joke at Marnus Labuschagne’s expense after he beat Don Bradman’s record century against South Africa
- Steve Smith clarified his unusual ‘chainsaw’ celebration at the SCG on Thursday
- A playful dig at teammate Marnus Labuschagne, who ‘failed’ Smith
- Smith, 33, has now plundered 30 Test centuries in the historic career for Australia
Steve Smith has come clean about his strange ‘chainsaw’ celebration after he notched his 30th Test century on Thursday.
The 33-year-old admitted it was a playful joke at Marnus Labuschagne’s expense that had the Aussie dressing room in stitches.
‘I think it was this morning, Marn was complaining about being ‘chainsawed’,’ Smith announced at the end of a rain interrupted second day in Sydney.
Anrich kicked the ball a bit which sent him out, and got chainsawed. ‘I said to him, ‘I thought you were late in the 70s anyway, so you’re right.’
‘He goes, ‘Stop being negative, Steve. I hope you get chainsawed today.’
Steve Smith has come clean about his strange ‘chainsaw’ celebration after he notched his 30th Test century on Thursday
Smith admitted it was a playful joke at Marnus Labuschagne’s expense as the Aussie dressing room was in stitches at the SCG
‘So I said, ‘Okay, when I get 100 I’m going to reference the chainsaw.’ So that’s it.’
Labuschagne was dismissed for 79 by South African quick Anrich Nortje on the first day of the third Test at the SCG following a nasty delivery that he nodded to wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne.
Smith and Labuschagne, both great run scorers for Australia – are close – in their penchant for batting relentlessly.
Smith’s personal milestone was significant – it was his 30th Test century, surpassing Sir Donald Bradman’s 29 tons.
He is now level with Matt Hayden and trails only Ricky Ponting (41) and Steve Waugh (32) with the most Test hundreds for Australia.
Smith also had journalists scrambling for their laptops after declaring it could be his last summer in Australia at Test level.
Labuschagne was dismissed for 79 by South African quick Anrich Nortje on the first day of the third Test at the SCG following a bad delivery that he missed
On Friday Smith walked back his brilliant comments, stating that he was ‘always mysterious about those things’ before adding that he was ‘not going anywhere’ and was ‘comfortable where everyone is.’
Usman Khawaja remains unbeaten on 195, with no play on the third day until 3 pm local time due to rain.
The contest appeared to be headed for a draw due to the inclement weather.
Australia lead the three Test series 2-0.
