Henry Blofeld: Smith has the class and character to revive England

Early Test success can be illusory but the Kent batsman already looks the part

Ed Smith's imposing arrival on the Test match stage towards the end of last week was considerably more important for England's cricket than Phil Tufnell's pre-season triumph in the southern Queensland jungle (pace Michael Soper, the former chairman of Surrey). It seems ages since a young Englishman last took to Test cricket with the composure that Smith showed in his first Test innings.

Over the years the gap between county and Test cricket has appeared to be growing inexorably wider. Wickets or runs in the former were no guarantee of success in the latter. Indeed, the new players that were tried have largely been shown to be wanting when it comes to the highest level. The last batsman to create similar impressions to Smith was Michael Vaughan in Johannesburg in 1999/2000 when he made 33, having come in when England were 2 for 4.

Smith has made a statement, therefore, about county as well as Test cricket. Of course, it helps that he is undoubtedly a class act. It was also a help for him that the selectors brought him in while he was in such good form. Too often in the past they have waited until a batsman who has been in mid-season form begins to lose his touch and is off the boil when the all-important first chance comes along.

A year ago another Kent batsman, Robert Key, who also had impressive county figures behind him, was elevated to the England side. He played first against India and then toured Australia and played in the first two Tests of this summer against Zimbabwe. For whatever reason he never quite looked the part. The final step up was just too big for him and when he was given the chance of some relatively easy runs against Zimbabwe at the start of this summer he fluffed his lines.

At Trent Bridge, Smith has looked a more composed player than Key while wearing an England sweater. He also looked to be more of a class act, but this may have had something to do with their respective temperaments. If two batsmen have the same ability, it is the one with the stronger mind and the clearer thoughts who is the more likely to succeed.

People handle themselves differently at times of stress and the confidence factor also affects individuals in different ways. From the moment Smith tucked himself in behind his first ball from Makhaya Ntini he clearly had both feet on the ground in every possible sense. After he had scored his first run, a trifle edgily to fine leg, he positively exuded confidence and looked eagerly to play his strokes.

He got a double first in history at Cambridge after going to Tonbridge, Colin Cowdrey's old school; he is already the author of one book, a comparative look at cricket and baseball, and is at work on another. This generally puts him in much the same league as England's former captain Mike Brearley. He is, too, a fiercely independent spirit.

He has already made himself extremely popular within the England dressing-room with his ability to laugh at himself. It is early days, but he could be the breath of fresh air that England so badly need. One can only hope that no one attempts to throttle his approach to life with the dead hand of conformity. The uncomfortable twist to this story lies of course with his first-ball duck in the second innings, but I shall still be amazed if Smith is not here to stay.

Test debuts make an interesting study. In the last 40 years, three England batsmen who made hundreds in their first Test Match went on to play only 23 Tests between them. Arthur Milton, of Gloucestershire, made 104 not out against New Zealand at Headingley in 1958; John Hampshire, of Yorkshire, made 107 not out against the West Indies at Lord's in 1969; and four years later Lancashire's Frank Hayes made 106 not out against the West Indies at The Oval.

Yet none of them went on to have long England careers, so early success can be illusory. Conversely, Graham Gooch made a pair of spectacles in his first Test, against Australia.

The last England debutant to make 64 in his first Test innings was Northamptonshire's Roger Prideaux at Headingley in the fourth Test against Australia in 1968. This was an innings that led indirectly to a catastrophic train of events. Prideaux was selected for the fifth Test at The Oval, but pulled out with a minor injury happy, no doubt, to think that he was already a certainty for a place in the side to tour South Africa the following winter.

As a result the selectors brought Basil D'Oliveira into the side for The Oval where he made no fewer than 158. In their infinite wisdom, the England selectors then decided that D'Oliveira did not merit selection for the South African tour, causing massive outrage that they had been brainwashed into sparing the South African government the embarrassment of having to accommodate a Cape Coloured within the horrendous confines of their policy of apartheid.

When the medium-pace seam bowler, Tom Cartwright, withdrew from the tour because of injury, the selectors immediately replaced him with D'Oliveira, the batsman. The South African government was therefore handed all the ammunition it needed to complain bitterly that this was a political selection and to cancel the tour.

From small beginnings ...