Steven Smith was due some luck, and on the first day at the Gabba, he got it. Having lost six consecutive tosses, Smith finally won one. He chose to bat. Smith batted well, but on 53 edged behind part-timer Azhar Ali's delivery and was dropped by wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed. Pakistan would rue that miss.

Then, on 97, Smith again edged behind, but this time was caught by Sarfraz off Mohammad Amir. The chance for a hundred could have vanished, but Smith could hardly believe his eyes as Pakistan were deceived by their ears. None of the Pakistan players had heard Smith's edge, and none appealed. Smith played it cool, batted on, and reached his 16th Test century, and first against Pakistan.

"I was very surprised, it was pretty loud, obviously I was on 97, there was a fair bit going on in the crowd," Smith told ABC radio on Friday morning. "It was pretty loud, but yeah, I did nick it, and no one went up so I wasn't going to walk."

Asked if he had a good poker face, Smith replied: "Yeah, I didn't look behind. Not sure why, I just played the ball and it was a bit bizarre that nothing came of it."

At the end of the over, Smith was seen in conversation with umpire Ian Gould, who had been standing at square leg while his colleague Richard Illingworth was not called on by the Pakistan players to make a decision.

"I told 'Gunner' Gould at the end of the over: 'I'm pretty sure I hit that one last over,'" Smith said. "He said: 'I'm pretty sure you've said that to me before. I reckon it was out here as well.' So it's happened before, you take the good with the bad."

The concept of "walking" - a batsman voluntarily ending their innings because they know they have edged the ball - was sometimes seen in past eras, particularly in county cricket in England. But rarely does it take place in the modern era, with most batsmen these days preferring to wait on umpires, reasoning that good and bad decisions even out in the long run.