TE: A Week Later Smith Grabs 177 + Another Telegraph Poll

After last weeks protesting against Steve Smith playing Twenty20s for Australia, he returned home just in time to play for NSW in their Shield game against Tasmania, which began yesterday. Good thing he did too, because he has finished up this morning with a huge 177 runs. Now imagine if the Shield game had started a day or two earlier, and he couldn’t make the beginning? What would be worth more, a solid 177 in the most disciplined form of the game to take his first class average up to nearly 55, or a bit of hit and giggle? Smith seems to have his batting well in order, but it is his leg spin bowling the selectors are interesting in at the moment. And bowling today will go a lot further to developing that part of his game than the 3 overs he bowled on Sunday.

The Telegraph love their reader polls and they also love putting in the same typical questions every time they run one. Recently the annual NRL reader poll was conducted, which happens 2 or 3 times a year, and to be honest sometimes it felt like I was reading something from last year. One thing that shocked me however, was that they have finally removed the ridiculous, biased question about Souths relocating to the Central Coast. But then there were sections like, most over rated player, which Willie Mason defended his crown on. Honestly, does anyone still actually rate Mason? Everybody knows he has been rubbish for a while now, how could he be over rated? If he has a blinder for the Cowboys in round 1 he could be most under rated! In the same question, 8% voted for Benji Marshall… Yes. Great thinking. Then there were the usual questions about more games on Sunday, is food too expensive at games etc. that never have anything done about them. Oh well, at least these guys only have a limited time left running our game.

Mark Webber has been whinging about how unprofessional Formula 1 has looked with various teams scrambling around to fill grid places for 2010. Recently the US team crashed out, meaning there will now be only 24 cars. Look Mark, the fans love large grids and that’s what it is all about right…? The so called professionalism of F1 is probably what has made it so, so boring in the past. It is heading in the right direction at the moment.