Smith Hopeful of Third County Championship Title

Will Smith is well aware of the expectation that has been heaped upon him at Durham. After claiming a second successive county championship title, expectations in the north east have grown. Had he been playing for the county a decade ago things might have been a little different.

The club was only granted first-class status to the county championship in 1991 and over the next decade and a half struggled to make an impact in any format of the game. The club was, however, starting to produce some very talented individuals with the likes of Paul Collingwood, Steve Harmison, Liam Plunkett and Phil Mustard all representing England.

Then in 2007 they claimed their first ever piece of silverware, winning the Friends Provident Trophy. Since that fateful day at Lords, Durham have become the team to beat in the county championship and head into the new season as favourites for the title once more.

Having been appointed captain in 2009 and led Durham to their second consecutive championship, Smith understands just how hard it will be to win a third. “We know that it is a tough season ahead and that it will be a hard slog. As long as we are striving to be as consistent as we possibly can then hopefully, at the end of the season, we will be up there. We are all feeling fairly confident but we won’t be complacent or arrogant. We have put in a lot of hard work over the last two years so we have to try and maintain those levels.”

Last year was a success story for Durham but the added responsibility of captaining the side clearly affected Smith. His average of 33 was well down on the previous year when he was one of the strongest batsman in the championship, averaging over 50 throughout the course of the season.

Smith puts this down to the pressure of captaining a side for the first time. “Last year was more about the captaincy side of things and establishing myself in that role. Hopefully this year I can spend a little more time concentrating on the batting and developing my own game,” describes the 27 year old. “I would like to score more runs this year and now that I am a bit more comfortable as captain, I will be able to spend more time on my own game.”

One of the toughest jobs Smith has as captain of Durham is dealing with the loss of his best players who will invariably be on England duty. Steve Harmison is currently out of the picture but Graham Onions, Liam Plunkett and Paul Collingwood are all involved in the England set up. Thankfully there seems to be plenty of talent in the north east.

“There is a lot of talent and it is vitally important for the club. It is something that has always been held fairly dear up here and it always will be. Producing local born talent means they will have so much more pride in representing their county than if they were just imported in. We have a great academy which is run brilliantly and it seems to continue producing both talented and mentally competent cricketers.”

With so many clubs relying on Kolpak players and overseas imports, it is refreshing to see such a successful side led by an English player and featuring a majority of local players. Yet, Smith does see a place in the English game for the right type of cricketer. �

“The overseas players we have had here at Durham have been the right individuals in that they have been here to succeed. They’re not just here to take the money and then disappear but to help in the development of the young English guys. If it’s any other type of personality I would be against it.”

Finding the right balance is a big part of Smith’s job as he must cope with the loss of a number of England regulars. This does offer an opportunity to the younger players and Smith feels as though that has helped Durham succeed in recent times.

“Whenever we lose someone to a call up or injury then there is always someone else who is equally adept at fulfilling the role. It is probably one of our strengths that when people are away it allows others to step in and perform,” explains the opening batsman. “It puts pressure on everyone to try and perform at the highest level. Otherwise they will find themselves out of the side.”

Although Smith refuses to be drawn into talk of a third title, he admits that he has a personal goal that he would like to achieve. “I would personally love to reach the 1000 run mark as I have never done that before. It is generally a given for any batsman but it is something I’d really like to do this year.”

If Smith can reach this landmark then he will have gone a long way to helping Durham claim what would be an historic achievement.�

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Will Smith is exclusively represented by Total Sport Promotions.

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