DURBAN: The most prolific batsmen take pleasure in making ugly runs. In which case Graeme Smith must be extremely self-satisfied.
There is no uglier batsman in world cricket. He squats at the crease like an overgrown crab, legs splayed, bat wielded at an oblique angle in a chunky claw.
He shuffles into position to play the ball and because he 'chokes' the bat handle with his dominant left hand, closing the face as he makes contact, his shot lines are all askew.
Straight balls are thrust through midwicket with clenched fists, deliveries outside off are punched back past the bowler with a crooked drive. Offside runs (the posh side, according to the purists) are as rare as Kevin Pietersen understatements.
It goes without saying that Smith is mighty effective. He was the leading run scorer in the world last year (though injuries have hampered him this year) and he brought up his 27th test fifty (to go with his 18 hundreds) with a typical nurdle to fine leg. No one has cracked the strange Smith code.
Perhaps they are trying too hard. From the first time England encountered him they became sidetracked by an obsession with angling the ball across wide of his off-stump to try and make him play on his less preferred side.
The stumps become irrelevant. This plan was clear again from James Anderson's first over. Every delivery to Smith and Ashwell Prince veered across their bats towards the slips.
Smith knew that the first session would be tricky, and, having won the toss and decided to bat, took on the responsibility of seeing his side through to lunch with only minimal damage.
But in this age of paralysis by analysis what opponents often forget is that a batsman's strength is also invariably his weakness. A ferocious cutter may try it once too often. Kevin Pietersen is both prolific against and vulnerable to the full delivery on middle and off.
The ball to bowl to Smith is the late swinger ducking back into the pads from outside off. He may work a few for runs, but his crooked method means he'll miss the odd one too (on his first tour to England Anderson got him several times with just such a delivery.) Unfortunately, Anderson seems to be slowly loosing the ability to bend the ball that way.
As he has slowly perfected his inswinger to the right-hander, the devastating outswinger that made his name (the inner to Smith) has disappeared.
The subtle wrist adjustment required to swing the ball the opposite way (and the excitement of discovering a new toy) can gradually override a bowler's natural skill. In spite of his increased consistency, that seems to be happening to Anderson.
So Smith continued on his ugly way, defying England for two sessions with a mixture of luck, skill and robust determination. It took an error by a partner, AB de Villiers, to end his vigil. It was the highlight of England's day.
The Daily Telegraph