The Spin | Whatever your view, Smith’s interest shows value of County Championship


Australia’s best-since-Bradman wants to play a few games before the Ashes but the chance to learn may not be all one way

At a time when cricketers bounce from one Twenty20 league to the next without much fuss – often halfway through, like cowboy builders yet to finish off the skirting boards – it’s almost reassuring that the idea of a player dropping into the County Championship for “three or four” matches can get plenty of backs up.

The player in question is no cowboy, it must be said, rather one Steven Peter Devereux Smith. Yep, Australia’s best-since-Bradman, the master of a thousand idiosyncrasies, has been in talks with Sussex over a short-term deal before the World Test Championship final in June and the hugely anticipated Ashes defence that follows.

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