As strange as it might seem, the battle for England’s Test wicketkeeping berth is taking place at No 3 in the County Championship.
No sooner had Somerset’s James Rew notched his 12th first-class hundred, the incumbent Jamie Smith issued a reminder of his abundant class with a measured, mature century of his own to save Surrey from defeat against Warwickshire.
Smith is one of a number of England regulars under pressure and, with the management promising that championship performances will be taken into consideration this summer, Rew is a cricketer demanding attention. He made a Test squad last summer and is a Lions regular, with Somerset claiming that only Sir Don Bradman and Sachin Tendulkar had more than his 12 centuries at the age of 22. Eagle-eyed statisticians have pointed out that Denis Compton, WG Grace and Ricky Ponting are also in that club. Nevertheless, he is keeping elite company.
It is easy to forget how high Smith’s stock was midway through the series against India last summer. Since, little has gone right: he tired towards the end of an arduous series, which bled into his white-ball performances, leading to him being discarded; he was overlooked in the Indian Premier League auction; worst of all, he had an underwhelming Ashes, including a bad drop at Brisbane, and a couple of unforgettably ugly dismissals, most notably to Marnus Labuschagne at Sydney.
At Edgbaston, amid a Surrey collapse in gloomy conditions, he started the season with a flat-footed edge behind. Ben Foakes, his predecessor as England keeper, bailed Surrey out with a fine hundred. Foakes remains a contender, as does Jordan Cox, although he is bench-warming at the Indian Premier League, rather than playing for Essex.
But, having conceded 544 by the time Smith walked out to bat again, his side were back in the mire, still 216 behind against a sporting Warwickshire attack. His 132, which took almost six hours, ended with Surrey 150 in front and the game safe.