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| Graeme Smith tips the balance thanks to his bludgeoning, straight bat South Africa's captain survived a few early scares and is now setting the tempo for a winning declarationSome batsmen glide towards their centuries. David Gower used to do that and so, in a more understated way, does Hashim Amla – even though he couldn't quite manage one this afternoon. Some simply will themselves there – like Graeme Smith.Smith does not glide any more than Mike Tindall or Emile Heskey have ever glided on the pitch for England. Smith bludgeons, he blunderbusses, he biffs. In fact 'Biff' is one of his nicknames and it's one of the better ones for a cricketer, even though it does not end with a 'y'. He is Mr Biff the Batsman. No doubt Jacques Kallis and Co enjoy the onomatopoeia.Smith is arguably one of the best batsmen in the world, averaging more than 50 again in Test cricket after this innings. He is certainly the best ugly batsman in the world. He is a big man physically and temperamentally. His massive frame rarely allows the bowler a sight of the wickets. As he shuffles across the crease the likelihood of spotting the leg-stump is greater than the off-. Usually neither is visible.Smith holds the bat like a cudgel; his footwork is ponderous; he often looks as if he is trying to hit everything to square leg. He often does hit everything to square leg. His cover drive is not a thing of beauty. It looks manufactured and unnatural. Even so the ball speeds to the off-side boundary with a clunk.It did so yesterday when he raced to a 19th Test century and his fifth against England. Somehow he was always going to post another hundred on his home ground. There's a bit more steel to Smith than, say, Shane Watson, who usually gets out in the 90s (mind you, that's not a bad weakness to have).So there are technical flaws, but these are mightily outweighed by the way Smith can impose himself on a situation. He likes batting when the game is in the balance. A situation enhances his play, just as it shrivels the confidence of lesser men.England know this from first hand. At Edgbaston in 2008, when South Africa required 283 in the final innings and with Monty Panesar poised to deliver on a wearing pitch, Smith hit 154 not out so that his side won by five wickets. Again he willed himself to his destination, imposing himself on Panesar and eroding the left-arm spinner's confidence along the way.He tried to do the same with Graeme Swann yesterday – though this is not quite such an easy undertaking because of Swann's character and the fact that he is an off-spinner.Smith was not always convincing in the duel with Swann; he could have been out three times in the off-spinner's first over, from edges and sweeps that bordered upon the desperate. Smith survived several lbw appeals, once courtesy of Hawk-Eye. But still he remained aggressive, thrusting that right leg down the pitch and, as the afternoon wore on, choosing to drive Swann down the ground rather than risking more sweep shots.Swann troubled him more than anyone, which is not saying much. Smith battered the rest of the bowlers, ungainly yet precise and sometimes brutal in his dispatch of the poor ball. When Jonathan Trott was summoned he retained steely concentration and cashed in, carving the short balls and belting the full ones. Sixteen runs came from one Trott over, compelling Andrew Strauss to bowl his weary, proper bowlers again.So the chances of Strauss turning the tables receded with every boundary. Smith has seen off two of England's finest captains, both after traumatic Edgbaston Tests. Nasser Hussain and Michael Vaughan were driven to resignation when captaining against Smith. That may have been a coincidence, maybe not.Here there was the odd murmur – actually a very odd one since Smith, to the sane observer, has evolved as the undisputed best man to lead the national side – that Strauss might gain some form of revenge. That was a nonsense even before Smith delivered. Now it is unthinkable.By his own bat Smith has made his team unassailable in this match; South Africa will not lose here and they have a very good chance of winning. The series will be alive when the circus moves on to Johannesburg. All he has to fret about is the timing of today's declaration. That's the type of conundrum that captains like. The way Smith was biffing the ball late on, racing from 100 to 150 in 47 balls, suggested that he wants to give his bowlers plenty of time to finish the job.England in South Africa 2009-2010Graeme SmithSouth Africa cricket teamEngland Cricket TeamCricketVic Marksguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
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