Rate Smith's 154*

[Xuhaib]

Loved the knock yesterday. Team under pressure, series at stake and being the captain it take some extreme testicular fortitude to pull something like this out of the bag. I know the pitch was not a minefield but still it was playing a few tricks and the bowling attack was also decent so it was never smooth sailing until the last 50 runs.

So how do our esteemed cricketweb forumers rate this knock. A definite all-time top-20 for me.

 

[Richard]

Nah. Much as I love Smith and am glad about that knock and yes, even glad that it took SA to victory, the fact is MSP got him out twice and did not get the decision (completely regardless of anything to do with MSP, whether he was over-appealing or any crap along those lines - the correct decision would have been out) and he should have been run-out in between these.

Smith played well either side of these would-be dismissals, very well, but the fact is he had 3 let-offs in a short space of time.

 

[Lillian Thomson]

It was best century ever in the 4th innings of a Test at Edgbaston.

 

[BoyBrumby]

First chance average took a bit of a pounding as Monty had him utterly stone-dead when he was on 70-odd & Bell should've run him out too.

Nah, great knock, obviously. SA were in the mire at 90-odd for 4 and Fat Gray stood firm. Treat yourself to an extra pie, tubby.

 

[Dissector]

I only saw the latter part of the innings but the England bowling looked rather flat especially Flintoff from whom I was expecting a huge spell towards the end. Plus he appears to have been lucky with appeals though I didn't see them. Having said that you could hardly imagine a bigger innings in terms of match pressure particularly when wickets were tumbling all round him. Overall it was a very fine knock and perhaps the best of the year so far.

 

[Napier16]

Nah. Much as I love Smith and am glad about that knock and yes, even glad that it took SA to victory, the fact is MSP got him out twice and did not get the decision (completely regardless of anything to do with MSP, whether he was over-appealing or any crap along those lines - the correct decision would have been out) and he should have been run-out in between these.

Smith played well either side of these would-be dismissals, very well, but the fact is he had 3 let-offs in a short space of time.

Ridiculous to count the LBW shout as a let-off.

Even with techonolgy it's almost certain a not out verdict would have been returned w/o the aid of hawkeye as it was Impossible to be sure that was hitting the stumps.

The only let off that really counts as that is the glove incident. The run out shouldn't as it was the fielding teams fault they messed it up.

 

[Richard]

Ridiculous to count the LBW shout as a let-off.

Even with techonolgy it's almost certain a not out verdict would have been returned w/o the aid of hawkeye as it was Impossible to be sure that was hitting the stumps.

Fact is, it was hitting, no stroke was played, and the ball didn't pitch outside leg. Therefore, out should have been the verdict.

The run out shouldn't as it was the fielding teams fault they messed it up.

The batsmen messed-up, and with proper fielding a run-out would have ensued. It was a clear let-off that normally would have been out.

 

[Napier16]

Fact is, it was hitting, no stroke was played, and the ball didn't pitch outside leg. Therefore, out should have been the verdict..

Again. without Hawkeye no one would have been sure it was hitting, only that it was going in that general direction.

Which is why no commentator realised quite how close until Hawkeye showed it hitting middle. Until then their only verdict was "close."

 

[Napier16]

The batsmen messed-up, and with proper fielding a run-out would have ensued. It was a clear let-off that normally would have been out.

Not the same as when the fielding team does everything within their power correctly, only to be unjustly denied by an inept umpire.

 

[Richard]

Again. without Hawkeye no one would have been sure it was hitting, only that it was going in that general direction.

Which is why no commentator realised quite how close until Hawkeye showed it hitting middle. Until then their only verdict was "close."

In common with many lbws. It was easily close enough to be given out, though one wouldn't utterly crucify Aleem for not giving it.

 

[Richard]

Not the same as when the fielding team does everything within their power correctly, only to be unjustly denied by an inept umpire.

It's absolutely exactly the same, where what the batsman has done is concerned. Only difference is that it's the fielders rather than the Umpire who's done the letting-off. And I don't think anyone is trying to rate the England fielders or Aleem Dar - simply Graeme Smith's batting.

 

[Napier16]

In common with many lbws. It was easily close enough to be given out, though one wouldn't utterly crucify Aleem for not giving it.

Vast majority of LBW's are fairly straight or at least straightish, not coming in at a 45 degree or so angle thus easier to judge...so again, incorrect.

 

[Richard]

The ease of judgement doesn't change the fact it was hitting the stumps.

 

[Napier16]

The ease of judgement doesn't change the fact it was hitting the stumps.

It does when there's an umpire involved who needs to be able to judge it with certainty in an instant.

 

[Richard]

The skill of the Umpire is not the issue. Had everything possible been available to make that decision, it would have been given out.

 

[Napier16]

The skill of the Umpire is not the issue. Had everything possible been available to make that decision, it would have been given out.

no argument there.

The same with Collingwoods poor let off, hitting two stumps 2/3rds of the way up and obviously out upon first view with the naked eye.

Unfortunately though, Hawkeye is unlikely to ever be a consideration therefore a decision such as the one in question will almost certainly be given not out even with the current technology involved as it stands.

 

[zaremba]

The skill of the Umpire is not the issue. Had everything possible been available to make that decision, it would have been given out.

There was always going to be doubt about the decision. It looked as though it may well have been hitting, but we couldn't see properly from our angle given the degree of turn and the foreshortening effect of the camera. It was not possible to judge depth and the angle at which the ball was travelling with sufficient certainty.

Hawkeye suggested it was hitting, but Hawkeye's predictive accuracy is (by the inventor's own admission) marred by a surprisingly huge margin of error which is one of the reasons why it isn't being used even in the SL / India series.

So I don't think a 3rd umpire could have been sure that it was hitting and the correct result, even on a referral, would have been not out.

The only thing that would have helped would have been a camera placed at mid-off / extra cover, so that the point of pitching was directly between camera and stumps. As far as I'm aware there was no footage from any such camera.

 

[Ikki]

It's absolutely exactly the same, where what the batsman has done is concerned. Only difference is that it's the fielders rather than the Umpire who's done the letting-off. And I don't think anyone is trying to rate the England fielders or Aleem Dar - simply Graeme Smith's batting.

Er what? That's like saying, had the bowlers bowled properly they would have gotten him out. Dude, you take this stuff too far and it ends up sounding like non sense.

Umpires' decision lucky, sure? Fielders, no. It's a lack of ability/consistency of the fielders; not of the batsman having more luck.

 

[four_or_six]

Bloody brilliant innings, doubly so considering what was at stake and the wickets tumbling round him.

Can't wait to see him take his team out to Australia now.

 

[Uppercut]

I only saw the latter part of the innings but the England bowling looked rather flat especially Flintoff from whom I was expecting a huge spell towards the end. Plus he appears to have been lucky with appeals though I didn't see them. Having said that you could hardly imagine a bigger innings in terms of match pressure particularly when wickets were tumbling all round him. Overall it was a very fine knock and perhaps the best of the year so far.

England were bowling extremely well to him for long periods of time earlier in the day. The reason it was so poor in the latter part was because Smith blunted the attack brilliantly.

It wasn't a chanceless innings by any means. However, if he had been out lbw after a ball pitched well outside off, turned a ridiculous amount (measured by hawkeye as around a metre on hitting the stumps compared to had it not turned) and hit his pads, it would have been extremely unlucky. Equally, it would have been extremely unlucky after such a brilliant innings had he been run out by his running partner's stupidity- because don't forget it was de Villiers who set off for the suicidal single. Only the glove which England didn't appeal for was a genuine slice of luck, other than several play+misses, at Anderson in particular, early in the innings.

For showing balls of reinforced steel, on an awkward pitch, with the crowd baying for his wicket and all his teammates falling all around him, with a history of "choking" often talked of, i'd rank it up there in the top 3 innings i've ever seen. Absolutely fantastic stuff from Smith.