Who is Ed Smith? The rundown on England's new senior selector
Sunday 22 April 2018 11:13, UK
The ECB have officially announced Ed Smith as England's new senior selector, as part of an overhaul of the national team's scouting network, driven by director of cricket Andrew Strauss.
Smith replaces outgoing head selector James Whitaker, and he will now appoint a new independent selector to sit on a new panel with him and head coach, Trevor Bayliss.
But what do we know of England's new senior selector? Here we take a look at his credentials…
International pedigree
Smith played Test cricket for England - three Tests against South Africa in the summer of 2003, to be precise. Before there was James Vince, there was another tall, elegant right-hander with a penchant for the cover drive and Smith, having picked up six centuries in as many matches to be the first batsman to pass 1,000 runs that summer, was duly called up to the struggling Test team.
A certain Nasser Hussain had stepped down as captain after a drawn first Test at Edgbaston, with Ed's South African skipper namesake Greame announcing himself to the world with a magnificent 277. A second double-ton for Greame swiftly followed in an innings drubbing at Lord's, hastening changes to the England team.
Smith came in, for Yorkshire's Anthony McGrath, and immediately struck a classy fifty as England's fortunes improved with a 70-run win at Trent Bridge. But, following that 64, he added only a further 23 runs across his next four innings. The Test series was ultimately drawn and Smith hadn't done enough to earn selection for the winter tours of Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and West Indies. He wouldn't play international cricket again.
County career
Smith played 13 seasons of first-class cricket, predominately for his home county of Kent, before moving to Middlesex in 2005. He scored 34 centuries, averaging a healthy 41.79 in four-day cricket, including a top-score of 213. Smith also played in 134 List A games, averaging 31.13, managing two tons, and appeared in 25 T20 games, scoring three fifties, with a strike-rate of 132.63.
Smith came closest to winning the County Championship in his final season with Kent, finishing second in 2004, while Middlesex won the T20 Cup in 2008 when he was with the county, though out for much of the year to injury. It was that ankle injury that ultimately hastened his retirement from professional cricket at the end of that season aged only 31.
Smith had been appointed Middlesex captain only the previous summer, but most of his two-year spell in charge was blighted by the injury and rumours that all was not well within the dressing-room.
Post-playing
Smith has had four books published, with three written while he was still playing. His diary of the 2003 season and his travails with England 'On and Off the Field' was shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year and The Cricket Society Book of the Year Award in 2004.
Smith made the move into broadcasting, becoming a regular commentator on BBC's Test Match Special since 2012. He is also a columnist for the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack and has written history book reviews for the Sunday Telegraph, as well as a weekly column for the New Statesman.
Smith shadowed the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League last year, where his friend Daniel Vettori is coach. Smith is also close to Nathan Leamon, the England analyst who built the CricViz data platform, and is thought to be a big believer in the role of data in team selection.
