Smith comes of age

On the occasion of his debut he had already irked the Australians by revealing the truth behind their tactics of so-called 'mental disintegration' - all manner of abuse, he said. But now Smith chose to indulge in some of it himself. By the time England visited South Africa in 2004/05 his puerility was becoming tiresome ... Not exactly Mr Popular then. But, talking to Smith at Taunton last Friday, none of this washed. To meet him for the first time was to meet a mightily impressive man. "I was quite impulsive before because a lot of people were challenging me, questioning whether I was good enough to do the job. Opposition teams were feeling I was a weakness and taking me on. You keep feeling you have to prove yourself or show you're strong. And you can get too strong and say the wrong thing. I'm much quieter in many ways now. I'm really enjoying the captaincy and enjoying being who I am."