Thank The Selectors For Steven Smith’s Century

On day one and two of the first Test Match between Australia and India Steven Smith played the best innings so far in his career. He made 162 not out with 21 beautifully stroked boundaries off 231 deliveries with a very impressive strike rate of 70.12. It was a really mature display of batting and stroke making, akin to what a future Australian Test captain should play like. Cricket Australia and the millions of Australian cricket fans would hope that after this innings he becomes even more consistent.

A look back at the four years of his cricketing career would tell us where the problem was. In 2010 he struggled in his debut year playing four Test Matches but averaging a very poor 23.37. Australian selectors kept faith in his abilities and stuck with him. In 2011 he played just a single Test Match and did not disappoint them. More misery followed in 2013 when he played 11 Test Matches and though he scored his maiden Test Match century, two of them in fact, still his average was below the 40 mark with an aggregate score of 1550. This year things are slowly but surely looking up. In the seven Test Matches so far he has averaged a very impressive 72.70 scoring 1287 runs so far.

The Australian selection committee members chaired by Rod Marsh should be congratulated more than anybody for Steven Smiths blossoming. Every cricketer is different like in any other field of life. Cricket Australia does not have a captain ready at this point in time and one suspects Steven Smith has been provided this longer rope, and rightfully so, as the selection committee sees a future captain in him.

There are broadly two types of batsmen in the modern game. Most of them are hard hitters like boxers who would love nothing more than a knockout punch. Then there are payers like Steven Smith, who with little more delicate approach towards his batting, craves out a memory in the audiences' mind that lasts a little longer.