CMJ: Third Test: Smith has swing for the times (30 June 1997)

Monday 30 June 1997

Third Test: Smith has swing for the times

Christopher Martin-Jenkins. j TWO recent graduates of the England A team have been asked to augment England`s bowling resources for the third Test at Old Trafford, starting, if the weather permits, on Thursday.

Mike Smith, of Gloucestershire, and Dean Headley, of Kent, join Phil Tufnell and the XI who won by nine wickets at Edgbaston, only to falter before the Australian backlash at Lord`s.

In 1995, the last Old Trafford Test was won by England with two off-spinners and it is more likely that, on a ground with long associations with spin, Tufnell will resume his partnership with Robert Croft rather than that Smith or Headley will replace Devon Malcolm.

The final combination will depend on the look of the pitch, the state of the weather and even the form of the England bowlers when they gather for net practice on Tuesday. Captain, coach and selectors, who all believe that the Australian batsmen may be vulnerable to Smith`s ability to swing the ball late, in to the right-handers and away from the left, will be looking especially to see how the Yorkshireman will react to the challenge of joining an England team before such an important match.

He has been recognised as a talented bowler of left-arm inswing since breaking through belatedly for Gloucestershire two seasons ago after a long struggle to establish himself during which he came close to giving up the game.

When the time for decision comes, however, the strategists may feel that there is more of a future for Headley, only two years younger but highly rated throughout his seven-year ca- reer which started at Middlesex and has blossomed at Kent since 1993.

Headley and Smith were only chosen ahead of Ashley Cow- an, who made a strong impression when he joined the team for net practice before the Lord`s Test, after long deliberation by the selectors. David Graveney, the chairman, has spoken to him and also to Adam Hollioake, who remains first reserve among the batsmen. Once it had been established that cortisone has eased the discomfort in Nasser Hussain`s `golfer`s elbow` (the injury is to his left, not right elbow),

Graveney said "there was no need to discuss the batting at all".

Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/)