There Is A Light That Never Goes Out

GH studies the Smiths

How complicated is batting really? You could get no two more contrasting answers than were provided today by Travis Head and Steve Smith in their yin-and-yang partnership of 241 from 302 deliveries.

Head, carrying on from Perth then Adelaide, is batting as in dreams. He is making ‘see ball, hit ball’ seem far too fancy: after all, what else are you going to hit, and to hit you must first see, right? So - just ‘hit’, and he can do this in ways others find unattainable, like steering a ball from the top of off with a diagonal bat to deep backward point and fetching a pull shot from a foot above his head.

Such is his straightforwardness, Head makes you embarrassed to write too much. It’s like trying to cap a pithy, trenchant comment that’s already been made and stands on its own, better unadorned. Smith is the more inviting subject, because he draws you down his maze of theories, leaves you trying to work out exactly it is he wants to say, as though you might complete his sentences for him.