By the time of the 2019 Oval Test this had well and truly worn off, hence the resigned bar queues, but for most of that series it seemed like he was toying with England’s bowlers and supporters, perhaps even with ingrained batting logic too.
At Edgbaston, five weeks previously, Smith emerged to play his first Test innings back after serving a 12-month ban post the ‘sandpapergate’ ball tampering scandal.
Smith’s runs have become so inevitable, his gimlet eye so inscrutable across the series that England’s fans (and more to the point, England’s players) just know that they aren’t going to get him out cheaply.
Smith’s arrival is met with the usual, if less vociferous booing, but after scoring 671 runs in five innings, there’s also a sort of grudging respect in the south London air.
Whether it be his unique set up, one that still resembles a forgetful bloke attempting to leave the house, ‘spectacles, testicles, wallet and watch’, or the way he chooses to not play a shot, prancing as he does when he leaves the ball like an over eager Samurai inciting a duel and immediately regretting it.
