The Cricketer looks at the main talking points from the County Championship game between Surrey and Leicestershire at the Kia Oval
Faced with overcoming the disappointment of a tricky Ashes series, Jamie Smith arrived in the English summer with something of a point to prove. Four innings later, he is the leading run-scorer in the country, 99 clear of anyone else. He is four shy of 400 runs – we've not yet reached the midpoint of April – and has two centuries in four innings.
On the final day of a batter-friendly draw against a defiant Leicestershire side, he fell 11 short of a third ton inside a fortnight. Bored of Ajaz Patel's over-the-wicket ploy, he slog-swept him to fine leg, where Tom Scriven took an excellent low catch.
With or without the gloves, it has been an accomplished response to whispers over the security of his place. In reality, perhaps it has reminded observers that, while utilised by England as a buccaneering No.7 with the shots to marshal the tail, Smith remains one of the best batters in the country.
Ajaz Patel has a Test 10-fer to his name (Indranil Mukherjee/AFP via Getty Images)
With Leicestershire chasing the possibility of an improbable win at the Kia Oval, seeking to bowl out Surrey for a second time to set up a final-session run-chase, it seemed incongruous to watch Patel, the New Zealand left-arm spinner, targeting the Surrey right-handers from over the wicket. He was punished for the legside strategy with 20 wides given against him.
But he had Dom Sibley clip the final ball of the morning session to leg-slip and then had Ollie Pope dropped in the same position by Stephen Eskinazi with the second delivery after the interval.
He showed precisely why he'd opted for that approach, though, with a beauty that ragged past Dan Lawrence's attempt to pad away another legside dart.
Dan Lawrence twirled away through 29 overs against Leicestershire (Ben Hoskins/Getty Images)
That dismissal left food for thought. Surrey have announced the signing of Rahul Chahar, the Indian leg-spinner, for the second part of the season – an acknowledgement that they erred in their strategy through last summer.
But an all-seam attack struggled to break through against Leicestershire, newly promoted from Division Two, a week after Ralphie Albert, the teenage left-arm spinner, had featured against Warwickshire at Edgbaston.
They have now drawn both of their Championship fixtures so far this season and have only taken 20 wickets in the process.
Will Jacks is at the IPL, while Cameron Steel – who has made several key contributions early in previous seasons – is still absent with an ankle problem. Lawrence, therefore, was tasked with rolling through 29 wicketless overs of off-spin as Leicestershire piled on the runs. With four games still to play before the end of May and opposition sides seemingly wise to Surrey's modus operandi, you wonder whether they might look to bolster their spin corps before Chahar's return.
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