Ashes cricket: The best is yet to come for Steve Smith

He is far removed from the banned batsman whose once insatiable love for the game had dwindled. We are mere witnesses, relieved of fears turmoil would rob us of an all-time great in his prime.

In retrospect it is an absurd notion, given Smith's superb 144 helped Australia to a competitive 284 on day one of the Ashes against England at Edgbaston on Friday morning.

For a man whose name no longer carries a 'C' on the team sheet, this scarcely believable outing rescued Australia from the brink of devastation. He is not allowed to captain his country until March 29, 2020 - but this was a captain's knock.

Once banned from cricket and still from leadership roles within, Smith may eventually don his Australian blazer again. But maybe that green and gold jacket is best left in his wardrobe.

Perhaps one of the greatest batsmen of this generation is best left to do just that - bat. Put into practice the shots he envisions in his hotel room and in the nets, where he drives coaching staff to the brink of insanity with throwdown after throwdown.

This is a man who views every ball as an opportunity to do something special. Free him to focus on making it happen.

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Let the awkward twitches bisect drives to the boundary and lightsaber leaves. Let the boos follow him until the voices of opposition fans grow hoarse. Let him lead by actions.

Smith does not need the captaincy again, nor does it need him.

"I know I've got the support of the guys in the room, and for me that's all that really matters," Smith said.

"They went berserk on the balcony when I got to 100, and just looking up at them really sent shivers down my spine. It's been a long time coming, getting another Test hundred.

"It was just a huge moment and again, I'm lost for words, I don't really know what to say at the moment."

Smith's return to the mantle of Australia's premier batsman will by no means exonerate him from the Newlands ball tampering saga in the eyes of many.

Nor will it completely spare him from the boos of an Edgbaston crowd dubbed by many the most unruly in the country, though Smith's brilliance was enough to turn some of their jeers into humble cheers.

Perhaps Tim Paine, the man who succeeded Smith as Australian captain, is not far off the mark when he says he can think of 15 more intimidating venues in world cricket.

But the pieces of yellow sandpaper brandished by those in the Hollies Stand when David Warner and Cameron Bancroft made their way back to the pavilion after falling cheaply serve as a reminder of what happened under Smith's watch.

It was a failure of leadership that led to a punishment disproportionate to the crime. A case of negligence led to ridicule, isolation, and a return to club cricket with Sutherland. The fallout will be a stain on the legacy of one of Australia's greatest cricketers.

It also led to his dream return - a rearguard century as dominoes fell around him on a troublesome pitch in front of a hostile English crowd.

Australia were once eight down for 122. Smith's brilliance saw England put nine players on the fence - and he still found ways to get by them.

To play with poise and to eventually flourish in such circumstances was a timely reminder that this man is one of the best in the world, just in case his time away had seen some start to forget. But even Smith would concede those thoughts once held weight.

"There were times throughout the past 15 months where I didn't know if I was ever going to play cricket again," Smith said.

"I lost a bit of love for it at one point, particularly when I had my elbow operation. It was really bizarre that, the day I got the brace off my elbow, I found a love for it again.

"I don't know what it was, it was like a trigger that just said 'right I'm ready to go again, I want to play, I want to go out and play for Australia and make people proud'.

"I've never had those feelings ever before, where I didn't have a great love for the game. It was there for a little while and fortunately that love has come back.

"I'm really grateful to be in this position now, playing for Australia again and doing what I love.

"I didn't really know what to do to be honest. It's been a long time coming. I'm lost for words at the moment."

So too, is the cricketing fraternity. Lost for words at the fact this star batsman was able to return to the Test arena with such class after spending 496 days burdened by regret.

Lost for words at the fact we have not yet seen the best of Steven Peter Devereux Smith.