England’s newest batting investment is repaying the faith already
Vithushan Ehantharajah27-Jul-2024That Birmingham seems to exist as this perpetual building site is a long-standing bugbear for residents and visitors. But it does mean some of the old and new neatly intertwine across different parts of the city.The 15 acres of the Custard Factory complex in Digbeth, for example, built by 19th-century baronet Sir Alfred Frederick Bird, the inventor of egg-substitute custard powder, is now littered with cafes offering eggs every which way. And for 61 minutes on Saturday afternoon, a classical institution and the ultra-modern were dovetailing in similar fashion at Edgbaston.This was not the first time Joe Root and Jamie Smith had batted together. They were at either end for 69 deliveries at Lord’s, then a fleeting 11 at Trent Bridge. But day two’s 78-ball exchange of strike and fist-bumps was a wink and a nudge for a duo in the early stages of blending legendary accumulation and exuberant shot-chasing.Their 62-run partnership was sandwiched by two century stands in which each man assumed the role of leading man. Root scored the majority of the 115 with Ben Stokes, guiding England out of a hole of 54 for 5, skipping past 12,000 runs and into No.7 on the all-time runscorer’s list. Smith then took up the mantle with Chris Woakes as 106 came from 127 deliveries to take the hosts into the lead. The 376 that England eventually mustered was the third-highest score made by a team after losing their first five wickets for fewer than 60 runs. Root’s failure to convert to a 33rd Test hundred and Smith’s dismissal five runs short of his first were the only bum notes in a period that they topped and tailed.Related
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Aesthetically, the pair are a satisfying contrast. Perhaps it’s because we have got used to Root’s mannerisms as he approaches 12 years at the top. But the bat wave, trigger and ensuing drives, late cuts and tucks offer a familiar, home-cooking comfort. Smith, on the other hand, is an engrossing contradiction of an initial robotic set-up that transitions into a seamless flow of arms, elbows and wrists. If Root feels free-range, Smith feels like what happens when lab experiments go exactly as intended.Can you recall any of Root’s seven boundaries? That’s sort of the point. Meanwhile, Smith banged a couple from just outside off through midwicket, including one which took his stand with Woakes to three figures, and himself to 92.He tonked acoustically pleasingly through the covers and sent a ball out of the ground – high over the Hollies Stand – for the second time this series after clearing Old Father Time at Lord’s during his maiden half-century. It was his fifth six in four innings – more than Root has struck in his last 18. Smith’s innings was comfortably the more memorable, which is exactly as Root intended.Smith was eventually done in by the short ball but not before he had picked off 33 runs from 14 pull shots•Darren Staples/Getty Images”He’s a very calm person to bat with,” Smith said at stumps. “He makes you feel quite assured with the way he speaks and gives you advice on what’s happening. But he’s not overburdening; he allows you to be yourself as well.”You’re not feeling like you’re second fiddle – it’s a partnership when you’re out there. He exudes confidence in you. You’re not just the person at the other end.”Smith is not the first player to benefit from Root’s facilitator qualities. Stokes’ 54, for instance, was probably the best he has batted since the guttural Ashes century at Lord’s last summer. And even that was an unsustainable cocktail of rage, not all of it his.But a hype man is nothing without someone to hype. And it was Smith’s crisp shotmaking, aligned with indulging every instinct without hesitation, that gave England drive after the rebuild. Whisper it, but it is arguably a strength Smith boasts over his more decorated teammate. His most expansive shots are not premeditated, they come from deep within. Root on the other hand… well… Can you recall his most predetermined shot? You probably answered that before finishing the question.Smith’s work in the evening session did not just put West Indies on the back foot but had them weak at the knees by the close, awaiting what will likely be a third and final knockout on Sunday. And it was largely down to those traits above, all of which were contained within his pull shots.The ground-clearer off Alzarri Joseph, who was peppering him from around the wicket, was one of 14 played, bringing Smith 33 runs in all. There was one awry glove down the leg side that was out of Joshua Da Silva’s reach. Jayden Seales insisted West Indies should have persisted a little longer with the tactic, given that the nature of the surface – as displayed by Smith’s dismissal to a Shamar Joseph cutter halfway down that didn’t get above knee height – almost guaranteed that one would misbehave and produce a mistake.Funnily enough, Smith agreed with Seales’ observation, but he had prepared for all that. The 24-year-old might be fresh to the scene, but he is fortified by learnings plucked from the experience of others.”It’s not something I’m overly used to,” Smith said of the bumper barrage. “In county cricket you don’t tend to get people bowling 90 miles an hour to you, round the wicket, so it’s a new way of playing. I’ve spoken to a few of the lads knowing that it could be an option teams might use against us, having a bit of preparation in the nets.”For me, it was a shorter boundary with the wind. I wanted to be positive. On another day I’ll hit it up into the air and get out. I’m not too worried about that. I’m always looking to score runs.”Tougher challenges are to come, though perhaps not this summer. But already Smith is looking comfortable in this XI and the demands placed on him, both as a wicketkeeper and a batter in a problem position at No.7. And as much as Root assisted him today, Smith is clearly more than capable of paying that forward, with interest.
