Steven Smith joined the elite club of batters to complete 10,000 runs in Test cricket on Wednesday on the first day of the opening Test in Galle. Smith came to Sri Lanka on 9999 runs after just missing the landmark at his home venue, the iconic Sydney Cricket Ground, against India.

Sydney had seen two Australians complete their 10,000th run in Test cricket – Allan Border in 1993 and Steve Waugh in 2003. It is the only ground to have seen more than one such milestone. Both Border and Waugh, like Smith, were born in Sydney. Before Smith, only Mahela Jayawardene was dismissed on 9999 Test runs, and Brian Lara was the only one to be dismissed twice in the 9990s.