FINDING FORM: Ben Smith is back in his stride after an eight-week layoff for a broken thumb. PHOTO/Duncan Brown
BEN SMITH'S talent with a bat up to domestic men's level of cricket is undeniably illustrious, never mind how you look at it.
But what can we make of the adroit Devon Hotel Central Districts Stags opening batsman's mental fortitude when things aren't going his way?
"I just think you've got to trust yourself, do what you've always done and go back to the basics," says Smith who made a three-ball duck in the six-wicket loss to the Canterbury Kings in the opening round of the Ford Trophy one-day campaign at McLean Park, Napier, on Sunday.
But the 24-year-old, who lives in Auckland and has returned to play for his Marist club in his birthplace of Whanganui after playing for Ruahine Motors Central Hawke's Bay for a few summers, has recently returned to the domestic front from an eight-week layoff.
In fact, Smith broke his thumb in the opening round of the four-day, first class Budget Rental Plunket Shield at Nelson Park, Napier, against the Otago Volts in October but, unaware until the day before, proceeded to play in the next round in Nelson.
It was a CD record-breaking feat in Napier after he scored 244 against Otago using Black Cap teammate Ross Taylor's practice bat to finish three runs short of retired Peter Ingram's feat of 247. Not only did Taylor deliver on a promise of three magnums of wine for the double century but Smith got to keep the bat.
However, Smith reflects on the "pretty sore thumb" and accepts it was "something-like-that" crazy to try to play in Nelson.
"I found out a day before that [Nelson] game that I had broken my thumb," says the batsman who had scored 40-odd in the first innings and a century in the second dig.
Crazy or a steely resolve, Smith puts it down to batsmen losing form and/or confidence anyway in a season and no different to having to pull themselves out of a mind swamp.
Since returning from the fractured thumb, he has played a warm-up game against Sri Lanka and also for CD in the shield game against Canterbury in Rangiora, where he made 15 runs in both innings.
He knows it's just a matter of time before he finds that timing and rhythm, although it would be great to produce that in the second round Ford Trophy match against the Wellington Firebirds at the Basin Reserve tomorrow.
"You have to show intent and not just bat within yourself," says the bloke who embraces all formats but has carved out a template in the red-ball version.
Smith is expecting a Basin Reserve strip, in keeping with tradition, to offer pace and bounce although the Henirch Malan-coached Stags won't inspect it until later today.
The similar characteristics with Phil Stoyanoff's McLean Park wicket means rookie captain William Young and his men have a chance to atone themselves after coming up short here against the Kings, despite winning the toss and batting first.
Malan last night said top-order batsman George Worker was returning to the Stags today from the Black Caps squad but would rejoin the New Zealand side on Thursday.
"It's a good opportunity for him to play a bit of cricket because he hasn't played for almost two weeks while he was away with family commitments."
The left-hander could "tick the wheel over" for CD and "turn his arm from a bowling perspective".
Malan said Worker gave CD a similar option to what allrounder Doug Bracewell gave with bat and ball in terms of the team's mix that would enable them to drop wicketkeeper Dane Cleaver from No6 to No7 for batting depth.
That would mean, considering CD played two spinners in Marty Kain and Ajaz Patel, the latter might be out of the 11 because Kain is considered No1 tweaker unless, of course, the Basin Reserve offers something dramatic in its wicket.
Malan said the players had acknowledged at the McLean Park changing rooms that it was the first game in defending their one-day crown and they were happy to roll with that punch now rather than at the back end of the competition during the playoffs.
"Sometimes you just have to ride out those waves," he said, feeling the Napier strip was "a bit slower than we anticipated but a pretty decent wicket".
Adapting, Malan said, was imperative in a game that allowed very few controllables.