Faulkner criticises England tactics

James Faulkner has learnt the Australian art of sledging the English. Even after only four days of his Test career. Even when he hasn't taken a Test wicket. Even at 3-0 down in an Ashes series. Not surprisingly, Faulkner is a favourite of Shane Warne, the man who captained him at the Melbourne Stars, promoted him as a Test cricketer and presented him with his baggy green on the first morning at The Oval.

"The way they batted yesterday, they chose to bat that way. If you're 3-0 up there's no reason why you shouldn't push and try to be 4-0 up," Faulkner said after the washed-out fourth day at The Oval, and following a third day on which England had scored 215 in 98 overs. "That's their choice ... I know the fans get a refund for their ticket today but maybe they should've for yesterday."

There is no question that Faulkner was selected in part to see what he could bring to Test cricket and to assess him ahead of the home Ashes, and because it was believed that he would add some toughness to a side that had perhaps been lacking it. In the Sheffield Shield, Faulkner is a wicket-taker - he has picked up 111 in his past three seasons - but he found it tough going on day three against England, who took only 29 runs from his 12 overs but offered no real chances.

"It didn't surprise me. Any time they feel threatened they sort of go in their shell and play pretty defensive cricket. That didn't really surprise me at all," Faulkner said of England's approach. "I think when they come to Australia it's going to be played on our terms and I think they'll be in for a hell of a challenge back home."

Whether Faulkner is part of that home series remains to be seen. Graham Gooch, as England's batting coach, will have a major role in preparing his batsmen for the different challenges of an Ashes series in Australia, where the pitches are expected to have more bounce and carry. He said it was understandable Australia would be frustrated at the match situation but that England were comfortable with their position.

"The Australian fast bowlers have bowled exceptionally in the last two or three Tests and they've really put our top order under pressure," Gooch said. "Credit to them. Ryan Harris and Peter Siddle in particular have been exceptional. We'd have liked to be in a slightly different position, a more advanced position, but it didn't happen. It's not the end of the world. We're not frustrated, because we're the ones with three Test wins, they're the ones with nil Test wins.

"I don't think any team goes out there to bat slowly. Sometimes you find the conditions a little bit easier to score than others. We certainly would've liked to have scored quicker. But we want to compete every ball and play tight, and we didn't move the score along as we'd have liked. Sometimes that happens in Test cricket. Sometimes you score 300 in a day, sometimes it's a bit harder work."

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Naeem ton secures Bangladesh A win at last

Bangladesh A 324-6 (Naeem 121*, Raqibul 72) beat England Lions 319-7 (Balance 87, Vince 63, Al-Amin 3-70) by four wickets
Scorecard

Bangladesh A salvaged some pride from their disastrous tour, after they beat England Lions by four wickets in the third and final one-day game. Naeem Islam was the hero for the visitors, chaperoning the 320-run chase and getting an unbeaten century himself.

This was Bangladesh A's first win on tour, after they lost five matches to county sides and conceded the three-match one-day series to the Lions by losing the first two games.

Naeem's unbeaten 121 came off just 100 balls and was highlighted by 15 boundaries and two sixes. He was instrumental in maintaining a good run rate after Imrul Kayes and Raqibul Hasan added 58 for the second wicket. Raqibul, who chipped in with 72, and Naeem then added 104 for the third wicket. Naeem kept going, adding another 76 for the fifth wicket with Shamsur Rahman, and an unbroken seventh-wicket partnership worth 36 runs with Farhad Reza that eventually clinched the game.

The Lions bowlers didn't help matters, conceding 35 extras, of which 12 were no-balls. In the finishing stages, Ben Stokes bowled two beamers, and was promptly taken out of the attack by the umpires, Tymal Mills called on to finish the over. Stokes, however, was the most successful (albeit most expensive) bowler with 3 for 74.

The Lions' decision to bat first was again vindicated by their third successive 300-plus score in the series. Opener James Vince made 63 off 70 balls while Gary Ballance struck 87 off 102 balls with seven boundaries.

This time, however, their finishing wasn't as good as the last two games, with only James Taylor making 44 off 29 balls with three fours and two sixes. Al-Amin Hossain took 3 for 70 while Robiul Islam picked up two wickets for 60 runs.

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Lancs close in despite another Moeen ton

Worcestershire 287 and 166 for 5 (Moeen 101*) lead Lancashire 441 (Smith 84, Procter 76) by 12 runs
Scorecard

Lancashire look poised to take another step towards promotion from the Division Two, despite the best efforts of Worcestershire batsman Moeen Ali on day three at New Road.

The England Lions left-hander became the first batsman to score two hundreds in a match for Worcestershire for three years as they limped to 166 for 5, a slender lead of 12 after Lancashire had made 441 in their first innings. With one day of the match remaining, it would appear Worcestershire's hopes rest solely on Moeen's shoulders.

The home side were quickly in trouble, with Kyle Hogg having Matt Pardoe caught behind, while Lancashire captain Glen Chapple had his opposite number Daryl Mitchell lbw inside the first eight overs.

Moeen shrugged off the double blow and looked a class apart as he accelerated to a half-century while taking 18 runs from an over by rookie offspinner Arron Lilley. Although more conservative at the beginning of his second 50, he picked up the tempo again in reaching the close on 101 not out with 11 fours and three sixes from 142 balls.

Thilan Samaraweera, Tom Fell and Ross Whiteley gave him some support but further wickets for Tom Smith, Chapple and Lilley edged Lancashire closer to a seventh win in 12 games.

Earlier they secured maximum batting points for the first time in the campaign as Smith brought his injury-hit season to life with 84 from 125 balls and Luke Procter reeled off a fourth consecutive half-century. Worcestershire's bowlers failed to maintain any level of intensity when Smith and Procter added 136 in 35 overs.

It proved to be no advantage at all when Simon Katich, having raced to a century in 86 balls on the previous afternoon, steered Jack Shantry's first delivery of the day straight to Samaraweera at gully. With the Australian gone for 105, there was not much between the teams on the scoreboard but the game quickly ran away from Worcestershire as Smith, in particular, found his range against some wayward bowling.

The allrounder's first half-century of the summer came up in only 75 balls and by lunch Lancashire were in the driving seat with a lead of 116. Procter's rich run of form took him to 76 before a miscontrolled shot off his legs sparked a quick wrap-up with the new ball, Alan Richardson and Graeme Cessford taking the last four wickets in 45 minutes after lunch.

Shantry did well to hold a low chance from Procter at wide mid-on off Richardson and wicketkeeper Ben Cox picked up three catches, the best when he stretched to his right to reach Smith's leg-side deflection off Cessford (4 for 73).

Richardson had to bowl 33 overs - twice as many as Cessford - for a return of 4 for 102 which put him on 49 Championship wickets for the season.

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Dhaka League set for 'players by choice' transfer

The Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League's lottery-based player transfer will be held on Sunday. The complex method devised by the BCB is called "players by choice", and will end a six-month wait for Bangladesh's professional cricketers who can now look forward to a September 3 start to the 2012-13 league.

The first-time system, however, is complicated, and some clubs are still confused about certain rules after a demonstration on Friday. It has been formulated after many of them demanded a level playing field, faced with exorbitant salary demands from the players. Each club will pay the players for one season, the period of their contract.

The 12 Premier League clubs will pick their choice of players from the 189 divided into seven categories - A+ (fixed salary of Tk 22 lakh), A (Tk 15 lakh), B+ (Tk 10 lakh), B (Tk 8 lakh), C (Tk 5 lakh), D (Tk 2.5 lakh) and E (Tk 1 lakh) [US$1 = 77 taka, 1 million = 10 lakh].

The clubs will first have to take part in a lottery to determine their calling number in each of the 15 rounds for categories A to E. In each round, the club which drew first in the lottery will have first choice of players. Each round will have a separate lottery.

For the topmost category, A+, the draw will see the interested clubs taking part only until the four players - Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal and Nasir Hossain - are recruited. "For example, if six clubs take part in the A+ category's calling, two will miss out," said Jalal Yunus, chairman of the Dhaka metropolis cricket committee, the BCB sub-committee which runs the Dhaka leagues.

Once the top bracket is taken care of, the clubs will have to pick 11 players from the next five categories (A, B+, B, C and D). Each club can recruit a maximum of two players from category A, three from B+, four from B, three from C, four from D and four from E. At least one player has to be picked from category E.

Clubs won't be allowed to pass on their calls in categories A to D, but it is allowed for category E. The BCB didn't clarify if passing is allowed for category A+ players.

Listed players who are not called will be considered as "free", and can be registered by any club. The same is applicable for unlisted players.

The system is styled after the draft in American sports, except for a few details. Usually, the players in the Dhaka Premier League change club allegiances every year through an exchange which lasts two to three days. The BCB has confirmed this will be the only season when they will use the "players by choice" method, and from 2013-14, the transfer season will return to its normal ways.

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Root's sweep, Woakes' drive

Award of the day

Kevin Pietersen was awarded a silver bat by Giles Clarke, the ECB chairman, on the out-field during the lunch interview to recognise his achievement of becoming England's leading run-scorer in the history of international cricket. It was another reminder of Pietersen's immense contribution to England's success over recent years and how far the team have come over the last 12 months: this time last year Pietersen was out of the side due for disciplinary reasons.

Review of the day

At Old Trafford, the Australians missed an opportunity to dismiss Pietersen when he walked down the pitch at Shane Watson and missed his attempted flick to leg. The appeal was turned down on field and Pietersen was so far out of his ground that the Australians declined to ask for a review. However, a minute later, a signal from the dressing room told Michael Clarke the decision would have been overturned on Hawk Eye's projection. So when at The Oval a similar appeal was turned down - Peter Siddle to Pietersen walking down the pitch - Clarke thought he would try his luck. Alas, on this occasion, Hawk Eye showed Pietersen had been hit outside the line of off stump and Kumar Dharmasena's decision stood.

Sweep of the day

There are English fans who wake up in the middle of the night sweating in a panic because they've just dreamt that England have decided to bring the sweep back. Over the last few years it is a shot that made even the most accomplished English batsmen look like a bloke they'd selected from the pub. Joe Root missed out on those times, he clearly doesn't know what sort of psychological torture a sweep shot can do to his nation. With England coasting on a dull pitch, Root played the sweep to Nathan Lyon, took the edge and ensured that the conventional sweep-shot dismissal is not dead in English cricket.

Start of the day

This has been a tough match for debutants. Quite apart from Simon Kerrigan's stage-fright, the new seamers on each side - Chris Woakes and James Faulkner - found little to encourage them in this desperately slow pitch. But, facing his first ball in Test cricket, Woakes drove Mitchell Starc beautifully for four through extra-cover - left knee on the floor, confident follow-through and the sweetest of timing - to underline the impression that he is a highly talented batsman who just might be able to forge a career at this level irrespective of his success as a bowler. He was the first England player to start his Test career with a boundary since Richard Johnson, the Somerset and Middlesex seamer, did so against Zimbabwe in Durham in 2003.

Gesture of the day

For the first time in a Test, the England team wore a charity logo on the collar of their shirts to raise awareness for Cricket United Day. The day saw the three biggest cricket charities in the UK - The Lord's Taverners, Chance to Shine and the PCA Benevolent Fund - join forces to help raise awareness and create a lasting legacy from the Ashes. Many spectators also wore blue to show their support and the charities soon ran out of the t-shirts they were selling to raise funds. The England players have signed their shirts and they will now be auctioned off for Cricket United.

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Ganguly to head Bengal's coaching committee

Sourav Ganguly, the former India captain, has been named chairman of Bengal's cricket coaching committee. The committee's primary job will be to organise coaching camps in Bengal to develop the cricketers in the state.

Ganguly was previously head of Bengal's cricket development committee, which included former cricketers Ashok Malhotra and Arun Lal.

According to PTI, Cricket Association of Bengal president Jagmohan Dalmiya said that that particular committee was unnecessary at the moment. "As of now there's no need of cricket development committee," Dalmiya said. "If need be, we will once again call the committee."

Malhotra will take over as coach of the Bengal senior team for the 2013-14 season, replacing former India batsman WV Raman, who had cut his term short last month citing family reasons.

Malhotra, a middle-order batsman, had played seven Tests and 20 ODIs between 1982 and 1986. He was prolific on the domestic scene for Bengal though, at one time the record holder for the most runs in the Ranji Trophy: 7274 at 52.49 with 18 hundreds. After retiring, Malhotra had a run as a Test selector.

Bengal had a poor last season in the Ranji Trophy, winning only one game in eight and losing four to finish seventh out of nine teams in Group A.

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Count the drinks, not the runs

It was a day where patience was tested all round; the batsmen showed, the bowlers used and the crowd had to find it

"Smaaaassshh itttttt!" came the cry from the behind the long-off fence. The man's voice was breaking almost into a falsetto, the kind of panicked, manic noise you'd expect to hear from a prisoner on the rack over the river at the Tower of London. Chris Woakes didn't oblige. He tapped the next ball away defensively off the gentle legspin of Steven Smith. And the next. And the next. And the next.

The spectator by now had turned his attention to more important matters: calculating the contents of his plastic cup of beer, and presumably how many more he could consume in the final few overs of the day. This was a day of beer snakes, of the crowds entertaining themselves. A day of Bronx cheers for each scoring shot; there were only four of them in the last 10 overs before stumps.

It was a day on which patience was required, from the batsmen, and therefore from the bowlers, and therefore from the viewers. Not so much patience as was needed at the Gabba in 1958, when Trevor Bailey lived up to his 'barnacle' tag in an England innings that brought 1.24 runs per six balls; here England comparatively raced along at 2.12 an over the course of their innings so far.

Australia's bowlers tried to build pressure. Maidens accumulated, the fieldsmen kept things tight, but there was little in the pitch and chances were rare. That they winkled out four wickets was not a terrible result - except that the fourth day is expected to be largely washed out. It was not an unfamiliar situation for the Australian attack.

In Adelaide last November, South Africa scored at a rate that made Kevin Pietersen look like he was playing Twenty20 cricket by comparison. Chasing an unrealistic 430 for victory, the South Africans hunkered down like professionals, trickling along at 1.67 an over to salvage a draw. But there, the Australians were down a bowler, after James Pattinson broke down in the first innings.

Here, they not only had a full attack, they had one extra option due to the inclusion of James Faulkner, although as it turned out he bowled instead of Shane Watson, not as well as. But on a pitch as dead as the series, Peter Siddle, Ryan Harris, Mitchell Starc, Faulkner, Nathan Lyon and Smith could do only so much against an England batting order unwilling to play shots.

Of course it can be argued that England should have been more proactive, tried harder to force a 4-0 outcome. But they were playing the long game - in every sense. Their objective was clear: stop Australia gaining any sort of confidence from winning a dead rubber. Stop them from remembering how to win ahead of the return series.

In doing so, they have all but ensured a 3-0 series result, which would push England to second on the ICC Test rankings and drop Australia to fifth. That South Africa and England, the best two sides in the world, are prepared to grind like this is a lesson to Australia. Besides Chris Rogers, it is difficult to imagine anyone in Australia's batting line-up having the patience to bat a day out like this.

"We did bowl well, we did build a lot of pressure and we were consistent in our areas and I guess we made them play that way," Siddle said. "It's one of the better innings that we've bowled in this series. We knew we had to try and get the breakthroughs, push the game forward. It's been hard work out there. The pitch has been hard work and they have been very patient.

"We're the ones who have put ourselves in this position [at 3-0 down] in the first place so it is disappointing. We did start this game off well and put the pressure right on them. If they want to play that way they do. We've put ourselves in that position so we can't control it."

Nor can they control the weather. All the bowlers and fieldsmen can do on a day like this is be patient, build the pressure and grab whatever chances England deign to provide. All the spectators can do is entertain themselves and line up for their next drink. And the next. And the next…

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Lehmann's comments 'incitement' - ECB

The ECB has stepped up the pressure on Australia's coach, Darren Lehmann, for his attack on Stuart Broad by accusing Lehmann of "incitement" and warning that they will take "all necessary steps" to ensure Broad's safety in the return Ashes series in Australia this winter.

England's unforgiving response looks bound to lead to the safeguard of additional security for Broad throughout the Australia tour in case Lehmann's comments on a Melbourne radio station lead to threats of aggression against him.

It is not clear whether the player has expressed concerns about his safety. Neither has there been any indication from Cricket Australia about whether they regard any such fears as remotely justified.

Lehmann, the first coach to be fined by the ICC for making comments about an opposition player, pleaded guilty to a charge of "publicly criticising and making inappropriate comments" about Broad during an intemperate interview, characterised by laddish banter, on the Melbourne radio station Triple M on the eve of the Oval Test.

He had invited the Australian public to target Broad and accused him of cheating for not walking during the first Test at Trent Bridge when he clearly edged a catch which rebounded to first slip off the wicketkeeper's gloves.

"I hope the Australian public give it to him right from the word go for the whole summer," Lehmann said. "And I hope he cries and goes home… Certainly our players haven't forgotten; they're calling him everything under the sun as they go past. I hope the Australian public are the same because that was just blatant cheating. I don't advocate walking but, when you hit it to first slip, it's pretty hard."

Lehmann has been widely condemned in the media and by former players including the ex-Australian captain Ian Chappell for double standards and unprofessional behaviour.

He was also fined 20% of his match fee by Roshan Mahanama, the ICC match referee after an intervention by the ICC's chief executive Dave Richardson.

Richardson said: "Whilst noting the context and nature of the comments made, showing mutual respect for one's fellow professionals - including for coaches, players and match officials - is a cornerstone of how we play the game."

The ECB has decided, however, that the matter should not end there, issuing a statement on Friday evening which read: "England and Wales Cricket Board, having reviewed the disciplinary process undertaken by the International Cricket Council overnight, have welcomed the swift action taken and also noted Cricket Australia's acceptance of the sanctions handed down to their team coach Darren Lehmann.

"The ECB, in supporting its players, management support staff and their families, believe no one in the game condones incitement of any kind and we will take all necessary steps to ensure safety on tour. The ECB now wishes to bring this disappointing incident to a close and will make no further comment."

Lehmann, it seems, has yet to adjust to an increasingly globalised world where somebody in his influential position can no longer temper his message to a selective audience without it becoming more public knowledge.

It remains to be seen whether his relaxed, outspoken attitude can prove successful in the present-day environment where every comment is logged, analysed and held to account.

England's public statements, by contrast, are repeatedly criticised as anodyne, but they generally possess a measure of self control which ensures they are not left open to the same allegations.

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Borthwick keeps Tremlett at bay

Durham 309 for 5 (Borthwick 135, Tremlett 5-51) v Surrey
Scorecard

If anyone in the England camp takes a look at the scorecard from this game, it will be noted that Chris Tremlett, who missed out on selection for the fifth Test at The Oval, was the only name to feature in the Surrey wickets column. A five-for kept his team in touch against Durham and will provide further grist for those questioning England's decision-making.

That the home side were not too inconvenienced by Tremlett was largely down to the efforts of Scott Borthwick, a local lad who made his third first-class century of the season. England may well be interested in that, too.

Durham is a proudly local county cricket club. Every time an outsider visits Chester-le-Street the sense of community and the bond between supporters and players is tangible.

The man who leads them in their cricket, Geoff Cook, Durham's first captain in first-class cricket and now their coach, is a Middlesbrough native. Cook is recovering from a heart attack but the spirit he brought to the club after a career with Northamptonshire and England pervades the place. His captain, Paul Collingwood, born in Shotley Bridge, has been playing for them long enough now to be termed a stalwart, and nobody in Durham will hear a word said against him.

Borthwick and Will Smith, another who warrants acceptance as an adopted son, provided the runs that gave Durham cause for satisfaction at the end of a day which started with Surrey winning the toss and putting the opposition in. Whether Collingwood would have made the same decision as Gareth Batty had the coin landed the other way up is debatable, as his side entered the fixture with a depleted seam attack.

Borthwick, who has been capped three times in limited-overs cricket, is a Sunderland boy and Smith, while born in Bedfordshire, was educated at Durham University. Between them they contributed 222 runs to Durham's effort. Borthwick came to the wicket in the second over of the match after Tremlett had castled Mark Stoneman. Five hours later he had a hundred and until he was dismissed for 135 he never looked remotely vulnerable. He was tidy, compact, and seized on the loose ball to register 21 boundaries.

Smith joined Borthwick after a tumbling slip catch by Zander de Bruyn saw off a promising innings by Keaton Jennings, who added 69 with Borthwick. Then the pair dug in and built a partnership of 183 in a little over 50 overs. Smith fell 13 runs short of a century and Borthwick followed him just before the close of play.

Borthwick's innings leaps off the scorecard but look further down it and you find the other outstanding contribution. Tremlett might not have been expecting to play in this game, but he was released by England and made his way up the A1. His presence in the side might well have influenced Batty's decision to bowl first but, while the outcome at the end of the day might have disappointed, his faith in his bowler was justified.

Tremlett took all five wickets to fall, bowling off 17 precisely calibrated steps before leaping into a colossal delivery stride. His accuracy rarely wavered, as evidenced by an economy rate of 2.31 and the modes of dismissal: one bowled, two lbw, and two caught behind the wicket. It was a joy to watch and he will be a potent asset for England in Australia in the winter - though some will wonder if he could have been as effective in south London this week.

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Smith shows a ton of learning

Steven Smith has shown more development than any other young Australia batsmen this year and after missing out at Old Trafford now has a hundred to show for it

It was fitting that Steven Smith brought up his maiden Test century with cricket's equivalent of a home run, for at times he looks more a baseballer than a cricketer. He gets batters out with full tosses, takes one-handed catches and, when the bowler runs in, stands with his bat bobbing up and down ready for a big wind-up. When he clubbed Jonathan Trott over long-on to move from 94 to 100, he rode the shot and punched the air like he'd hit a World Series-winning grand slam.

There is much about Smith that seems made for the short formats. Like others of his age, he emerged in the Big Bash before first-class cricket. He has played nearly twice as many Twenty20 matches as four-day games. Smith is a more compulsive twitcher than Bill Oddie. Between deliveries he taps his helmet, left pad, box, right pad, thigh pad, helmet again, glove, right pad again. It is tempting to think he is a man with no attention span, a pyjama cricketer.

That would be unfair. Batsmen cannot stay alert non-stop for long periods, they must switch off between deliveries, reset their brains. Habits and rituals help maintain that focus; Trott walks halfway to square leg, Alastair Cook marks his guard and twirls his bat, Smith fidgets. More important is his stability and balance at the crease and apart from his nodding bat, he is much stiller than he once was.

It was notable that when Chris Rogers wrote last year of the flawed techniques of many of Australia's young batsmen, including Phillip Hughes, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh and Callum Ferguson, he singled out Smith as a man who seemed "to be sorting things out". Notably, his six over Trott's head to reach a hundred was not a slog, it was a through-the-line drive, smart and relatively safe against a part-timer.

It is no wonder Smith was pumped at achieving the milestone, for he might have felt his chance had slipped after a horrible cross-batted swipe ended his innings on 89 at Old Trafford. When the coach Darren Lehmann spoke of batsmen needing to play straight after the collapse at Chester-le-Street and of careers being on the line at The Oval, without naming names, it was clear that Smith was one of the men under pressure.

In many ways he was lucky to be here. In many ways he has had a lucky year full-stop. Smith was part of Australia's 17-man squad for the tour of India in February-March but seemed the least likely to play; instead, he got his chances after the homework suspensions and showed his class against spin with 92 in Mohali and 46 in Delhi. Still, it wasn't enough to earn him a Cricket Australia contract for the 2013-14 season, or a place in the original Ashes squad.

But Smith was added to the touring party ahead of the first Test, when the captain Michael Clarke was battling his ongoing back injury, and having scored 133 for Australia A against Ireland, he pressed his case further with runs in the tour match in Worcestershire. Suddenly, he had jumped from outside the squad in front of Khawaja and the banished David Warner and found himself in the side for the first Test.

Still, in the lead-up to this match he had shown glimpses without grabbing his chances, and was averaging 25 for the series. But the selectors gave him another opportunity - one that was not afforded Khawaja, Hughes or Ed Cowan - and he nearly threw it away first ball with an ill-considered slash outside off that was lucky not to have been edged behind. It was the shot of a man feeling the pressure, but gradually Smith calmed his nerves and found his rhythm, leaving and playing on merit.

He showed some fight, and that was what Lehmann wanted after the Durham debacle. Smith survived for 567 minutes - nearly enough time for three full Twenty20 matches - before Clarke declared with him on 138. At 24, he was Australia's youngest Ashes centurion since Ricky Ponting. He has also become Australia's second-highest Test run scorer this year, with 499 at 41.58. Only Clarke has made more, or faced more deliveries, or passed fifty more times.

In the latter part of his innings, as the declaration approached, he brought out a few baseball shots. There was even the occasional overhead smash - not surprisingly, Smith was a talented junior tennis player. But importantly, for most of Smith's innings he played not tennis nor baseball but cricket. Test cricket. The No.5 position is now his. He has earned it.

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