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Your support makes all the difference.Warwickshire 448; Essex 271-3
IN THE mischievous, jaundiced eyes of Rod Marsh, Neil Smith is probably a pie-thrower par excellence, a perfect example of the mediocre fare cooked up by county cricket to keep the unemployment figures down. Were that the case, Graham Gooch would have been washing the custard out of his moustache last night.
The truth, of course, is not that simple. Gooch was rumbling menacingly yesterday, nimble footwork and meaty clumps taking him to 71 when Smith, whom he had treated with scant respect, trundled up to deliver the last ball before tea.
Accustomed to seeing Australians turn the ball square in recent weeks, Gooch covered the anticipated off-break only for the ball to hold its line and clip the top of off-stump.
The victim stared in disbelief at the pitch; Smith shrugged his shoulders. Another step on the road to self-affirmation had been taken.
When the season began, Smith had managed just one five-wicket haul in six summers, his sole flirtation with the limelight the six that sealed the 1989 NatWest Trophy final. Had his father, M J K, not been the Warwickshire chairman, mumbled a few sceptics, he would have been a regular DHSS customer long ago.
Since April, however, this studious-looking player, a blond chip off the block, has shed his one-hit wonder status and charted heavily on the Edgbaston top 40, gleaning career-bests with the ball in the Championship, Sunday League and the NatWest Trophy.
Emboldened by this sudden change of fortune, Smith showed his mettle at the crease before lunch, heaving Peter Such many a mile over midwicket for six during a breezy cameo that enabled Warwickshire to outstrip their previous highest total of the season by more than 100.
Gooch and John Stephenson embarked with a sedate 51 before the latter lunged at Tim Munton and was caught behind.
Paul Prichard then played second fiddle to Gooch in a stand of 80 in 17 overs, then took the podium himself, making 68 before a casual flick to midwicket off Paul Smith saw Jason Ratcliffe accept the gift at the second attempt.
Salim Malik was at his relaxed best thereafter, but the champions, well behind on points, will have their work cut out to gain the final verdict.
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