Farewell, Ed Smith, the selector who was the victim of his own success

Smith was not a total success but his knack for spotting talent will shape England for the best part of the next decade

So Ed Smith has lost one of his many slashes. His potted CV now reads author/broadcaster/academic/Test cricketer, but not national selector. He still has more of the things than Fabio Lanzoni did when they gave him the Slashie award for being the best actor/model in the Zoolander movie.

England haven’t just moved on from Smith, but the whole role of head selector, which has been scrapped and the job passed on to the head coach, Chris Silverwood, and his two captains, Joe Root and Eoin Morgan. It seems a simpler way of doing things, but will no doubt turn out to have its own complications the next time England lose the Ashes.

Related: Ed Smith removed as England national selector in cricket revamp