Think ‘greatest Test innings of all time’ and you might recall Ben Stokes’ wild 2019 escape act, or perhaps VVS Laxman’s 281 to down Australia in 2001 after India was asked to follow on.

The shortlist is long, and offers apples with oranges comparisons, but you’ll find one thing uniting contenders is a fear that preceded the greatness.

This is the common theme with Steve Smith’s greatest Test contributions, too.

We most fondly remember his consecutive centuries at Edgbaston in the 2019 Ashes for their unlikely brilliance, but also for just how dire things would’ve been for Australia without them.

Similar could be said for his double century at Old Trafford later that series or, two years earlier, his century that spearheaded a rare win against India in Pune – both knocks among his most revered.

In each of these innings, Smith was at the crease inside 10 overs and led a fightback for a side in desperate need.

If those innings are most memorable to us for the crises they prevented, then it’s reasonable to think they might be memorable to Smith for the same reason.

Smith has 32 Test centuries, but they are not equal when it comes to the memories they invoke.

Consider that on Wednesday when pondering why Smith would be willing to put a chunk of his Test legacy on the line with a risky move up the order late in his career.

Recent years have seen Smith fail to dead-bat talk of Test retirement which – at just 34 years old and not far removed from his 2019 masterpiece – comes as a shock.

But as a deep-thinker, and someone who has experienced arguably the most crippling low the game has to offer, Smith’s view of Test cricket is the same as ours – a pursuit of good feeling and memories that will last a lifetime.

At No.4 in a Test XI largely firing on all cylinders, the opportunity to claim these rewards have been dwindling.

By the final ball of the 2019 Ashes, Smith was averaging a stunning 64.56 in Test cricket, and had 26 centuries after his heroics in that series.

Since then, Smith has averaged 45.37 in Test cricket while adding six more centuries – impressive numbers to be sure, but a drastic dip from the Bradmanesque standard he had set.

Australia has won games of Test cricket, and many of them – but the sport has always been a confusing muddle between the individual and the team in a way no other game is.

As such, it’s fanciful to think Smith has found just as much enjoyment in being a role player as he did in being the main man.

There is no need to unnecessarily package Smith’s promotion as some sort of ultimate team sacrifice. This is as much an attempt to rediscover the magic of yesteryear as it is anything.

True, there are potential benefits that satisfy the team, too. Playing Green at his preferred No.4 could prove fruitful to Australia for more than a next decade, while Smith’s experience and astounding skill make him as likely to succeed as an opener as any other candidate.

Don’t forget, however, that this was the idea of Smith, who didn’t bring his plan to the team without a substantial cherry in mind for himself.

“Since, I guess, Marnus (Labuschagne) has been playing at No.3, I’ve been waiting to bat for quite a long period of time,” Smith told Fox Cricket last week. “And, I don’t really like waiting to bat.

“So, I thought, ‘why don’t I put my hand up and have a crack up top, and that way you can get Cameron Green in and you’re playing your best six batters’, so hopefully it works out well.”

It’s also no surprise that memories of domination in 2019 were front of mind for Smith when making the request.

“I like facing the newer ball. You look at the 2019 Ashes, I was in pretty early most of the time there facing the new ball,” Smith said.

“I batted No.3 for a number of years, too, and was in early and did pretty well against the new ball.

“So it’s nothing new or foreign to me. I like getting in there and among it and I’m looking forward to the challenge.”

RE-EMERGING FROM THE SHADOWS

Smith is hungry for the new challenge because the old one was virtually conquered.

As his Test average slipped below the modern game’s magical 60.00 mark, something started to feel amiss with Smith. His fire no longer burning so brightly, despite Australia’s many team successes.

Over the past four years, others have owned the majority of the biggest moments for this team.

With the bat, we think of Usman Khawaja and Mitch Marsh’s resurgences, Travis Head’s steady rise, or David Warner’s monster innings in Adelaide and Melbourne.

With the ball, we’ve enjoyed Pat Cummins in the peak-Glenn McGrath realm, combined with the devastating contributions of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon, and THAT Scott Boland moment at the MCG.

All this is to say that Smith, despite being spoken about only a few years ago as the best since Sir Donald Bradman, has been playing in the shadows through little fault of his own.

Tired of waiting for the big game situations to return to him, Smith has decided to chase those moments himself.

By opening the batting, nothing has been left to chance. A big chance for Smith to impact virtually every Australian Test innings now awaits.

Suddenly, the fire is back, with Smith a fired-up figure in the nets. On Tuesday, any miscued drive was met with utter disgust, and was avenged with a crisp blow the next ball.

“F**k off,” Smith muttered after one mistimed drive through midwicket, which was promptly followed by a brutal stroke through the covers the next ball.

According to Australia’s captain Pat Cummins, this week has been up there with the most fired-up he’s seen Smith in training.

“It’s as happy and energetic that I’ve seen him around the nets in the past couple of days,” Cummins said. “He can’t wait to get out there.”

Nonetheless, Cummins said that even for a player of Smith’s calibre, the challenge of opening the batting in Test cricket “can’t be underestimated”.

And so it now comes to this; a major gamble from Smith on both the present, and on future legacy.

Wednesday could be the first day of the final chapter in Smith’s Test career, for better or worse.

But it’s a risk he’s willing to take to not simply become Australia’s leading man again, but to find enjoyment in the only way he knows how.