Saturday, Aug 02, 2003
Saturday, Aug 02, 2003 |
| Sport | ||||
|
News:
Front Page |
National |
Southern States |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Entertainment |
Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary | Sport
-
Cricket
By Ted Corbett
As he headed beyond 150, his stumps were dwarfed by that massive frame, that wide lefthanded stance and a bat that was spreading with each stroke. Imagine some giant Russian goalkeeper spreading himself to stop a penalty. England could not find a way through at Lord's as the second day of the second Test headed for a finale although its attack did not merit a wicket at any time in the day. Few batsmen since Bradman have dominated a series as Smith has: Denis Compton and Bill Edrich in 1947, Viv Richards in 1976, Azharuddin scoring three centuries in his debut series against David Gower's team in 1984-85, Graham Gooch in the short series against India in 1990 and Brian Lara in the Caribbean in 1993-94. We are still watching the second day of the second Test and only Smith's third innings. Yet he has already gone past 500 runs and seems to be in an ideal position to attack Lara's 376. He is 22, as strong as a dray horse and as strong mentally as any man now playing, although one or two Australians will run him close. He showed all these strengths as he went quickly from 80 to his fourth Test hundred and then, although he did not look tired, slowed up so that his partner Gary Kirsten began to catch him. Smith's fame is now spreading so rapidly that wherever you go at Lord's, groups of pundits are gathered to his discuss his every shot. He has been compared to Graeme Pollock, the greatest of all South African batsmen, who is here to help Nottinghamshire celebrate its 50th Test. Smith is not yet Pollock; he has not been around long enough. But he is unique in cricket at the moment. His gestures to mark each landmark are all-embracing. Not just a wave to the dressing room and a perfunctory nod to the spectators but a full-blooded, almost theatrical celebration. He clearly loves batting, loves break records and relishes each moment as a star. In 1965, Pollock made 125 at Nottingham that still has the old ones sighing with pleasure — full of brilliant strokes made in the grand manner from the same wide stance that Smith uses and with the same power. His century all those years ago led to a victory by 94 runs and it is difficult to see — since the weather forecast is for hot weather over the next three days — how his team can avoid winning here and setting up a series success. Smith wiped out Pollock's 273, a South African record which has stood for 25 years — much of that in isolation — with his 277 at Edgbaston eight days ago but once he reached 110 he slowed down. Tiredness after back-to-back Tests, a surfeit of records or sympathy for a wretched England attack? Probably not. A form of repetitive strain syndrome, I suspect, caused by pulling, cutting and driving the England attack to the boundary 57 times before he reached the 500-mark that caused the England fielders to applaud, although Alec Stewart's gloves were tapped together rather formally as if he would rather Smith was in a remote dressing room. The deceleration by Smith brought the best out of Kirsten. He may be 35 and a touch slower than he once was but on a peaceful pitch he exhibited all the patience which brought him 275 against England four years ago. He played a bigger part as the second wicket stand became a record for South Africa at Lord's and his own century approached. But at 145 Smith found a second wind and scored 10 in a concentrated attack on Darren Gough, including a shot off Steve Harmison through mid-off so powerful that he hit the ball and remained perfectly still, knowing he had hit a shot that would have forced its way through a warring host. At tea, he was 178 out of 337 and plenty left in his locker. SCOREBOARD
Fall of wicket: 1-133.
Printer friendly
page
News:
Front Page |
National |
Southern States |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Entertainment |
Miscellaneous |
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The Hindu Group: Home | About Us | Copyright | Archives | Contacts | Subscription Group Sites: The Hindu | Business Line | The Sportstar | Frontline | The Hindu eBooks | Home |
Copyright © 2003, The
Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of
this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of
The Hindu
|
