(^) Daily Mail, Friday, September 6, 2019
84 THE ASHES FOURTH TEST
THE ASHES
NASSER
HUSSAIN
at Old Trafford
He’s eccentric
and he’s very
quirky but...
HE’S ONE
OF THE
ALL-TIME
GREATS
H
ow good is Steve
Smith? You’d have
to say he’s up there
with the all-time
greats. The point
of sending someone out of
the door is to get runs, not
to look pretty — and, boy,
does he get runs.
His appetite simply doesn’t
diminish. You could see he was
spewing when he was caught at
slip off Jack Leach, until he realised
it was a no-ball. Like all the great
batsmen, he has a hunger and a
love of batting that elevates him
above the rest.
He’s at his happiest out in the
middle, with a bat in his hand. Yes,
he’s eccentric. Yes, he’s quirky. In
fact, he seems to be quirkier. But
he knows his game inside out, and
he’s making England pay.
when Australia last toured
this country, in 2015, he looked
unbeatable on the two flattest
pitches in the series, at Lord’s and
the oval, but vulnerable at Cardiff,
Edgbaston and Trent Bridge,
where the ball did a bit.
But even when it’s been swinging
or seaming around this summer,
he hasn’t looked troubled — and
he’s forcing England to try all sorts
of things to get him out.
I’d have liked to see them try the
off-side ploy a bit more, aiming
full on a fifth or sixth-
stump line with a man
on the cover boundary
to provide the bowl-
ers with a bit of pro-
tection. It has to
be full, because
anything on a
length he’ll just
work through the
leg side.
After tea they did
try the outside off-
stump line, with Craig
overton trying to
frustrate Smith from the
James Anderson End. But I’m
surprised they didn’t try it earlier.
Instead, England packed the leg-
side field, because he’s so strong
through that region. when that
happens the bowler tends to stray
towards where he has protection.
And the problem you then have
is that Smith is as strong off his
legs and his hip as anyone I’ve ever
seen — up there with Viv Richards
and Kevin Pietersen.
As if trying to work out how to
dismiss Smith isn’t hard enough
for Joe Root, the
England captain also
has to work out how
to get the best out of
Jofra Archer.
There was a moment yester-
day when he asked Archer to go
round the wicket and you sensed
from his bowler’s body language
that he wasn’t especially thrilled
about the request. Archer clearly
wants to be more than the bloke
who bangs it in. He wants to show
off his skills, his accuracy, his abil-
ity against left-handers and so on.
How this relationship develops
over the next couple of years is
going to be fascinating. Because
while Archer has to realise that
very few England captains are
ever handed the luxury of a bowler
capable of getting it through
at 95mph, Root also has to
appreciate that not every bowler
can be treated the same.
It’s a tricky balancing act. I used
to get criticised a bit for standing
at mid-off or mid-on and talking to
my bowlers as they walked back to
their mark, but at the same time
you have to be able to sell an idea
to a bowler.
You almost have to convince
them that the idea you have is
actually their idea — that they are
the only player in the team capable
of carrying it out, and that they
and the team will both benefit
from it. Sometimes you need to
man-manage according to the
temperament of the bowler, not
stand at slip and wave your arms.
The crux of captaincy is being
able to get one of your team-mates
to do what you want them to do,
without upsetting them.
Now, I’m not saying this is easy
with a young guy like Archer.
Bowling fast is hard work, and he
must be exhausted, mentally and
physically, after the summer he’s
had — his first in international
cricket, don’t forget.
And because he’s gold dust, I’d
let him have his way for the time
being, while he’s finding his feet at
the highest level. He’s laid-back
and a bit different, and the skill of
a captain is accommodating that.
when Archer joined the England
set-up, he would often warm up by
bowling left-arm spin in the nets
or in the middle before the start of
play. The back-room staff had to
ring Sussex, his county, to ask if he
was always like this. They said
he was.
Root has already managed to do
what neither Andrew Strauss or
Alastair Cook could do, which is
persuade Stuart Broad, one of
England’s most stubborn players,
to pitch the ball up. If he can teach
an old dog new tricks, he can do it
with the new kid on the block too.
Then everyone will be a winner.
more, aiming
sixth-
man
ary
wl-
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ff-
raig
g to
rom the
EdBtI’fo
En
has
to get
Jofra Arc
Th146
SMITH scored a
further 146 runs after
he was dropped by
Archer in the second
over of the day. He
was on just 65 at
the time.Unorthodox:
but Steve
Smith hits
another
boundary
PA