Jack Could Be The Solution To England's Plan For Smith

Derek Pringle dissects England’s masterplan to dislodge the Australian batsman and reckons Leach and Archer could well be the answer

- Derek Pringle

Plans, plans, plans. We all make them but how many of them actually work as intended? It is a question England’s cricketers will know the the answer to soon, depending on whether Steve Smith makes more than 63 in his first innings at Lord’s, his career average, or fewer than that number, which will no doubt be the home side’s criterion for success.

Smith, you might recall, made two big hundreds in the opening Ashes Test – the first to haul Australia out of the mire and the second to plunge England into it. It was virtuosic stuff to which England appeared powerless to react. As a result, fortress Edgbaston was razed especially after Australia’s bowlers put into perspective just how difficult it was to bat second time around on such a dry, worn pitch.

I was critical of England’s approach towards Smith on the opening day of that match, after they had Australia in deep trouble on a pitch offering frequent seam movement. Superb batsman though he is, I felt that Joe Root and his bowlers held Smith in too much esteem. Instead of bowling an aggressive length and line and challenging him to cope with the moving ball, England quickly went to their two-part plan for him – a plan that involved Ben Stokes bowling 14 inches wide of off-stump one end, with a asphyxiating off-side field (the idea being to bore him into nibbling at a wide one); and Chris Woakes bowling straight at the other end with protective cover on the leg side (the plan being that he might miss one and be lbw).

As ploys go, both failed, though there may have been mitigating reasons for this such as the slow nature of the pitch, which enabled Smith, a back foot player who sees the ball early, even longer to select and perfect his shots.