Q&A: West Indies Opener Devon Smith
Fri, Nov 18, '05
West Indies opener Devon Smith is a man of few words. Thoughful and circumspect, the Grenadian left-hander is searching for certainty at the top of the order after an up-and-down career saw him in and out of the senior side.
In an interview published on the DigicelCricket.com, Smith raps about making his debut, his maiden Test ton and the things he needs to do to cement his place at the top of the order of the West Indies batting line up. Excerpts follow...
I really never saw him, but of course it is an honour. I would take it. It?s alright if people make the comparison as it?s an honour to be compared to someone who did so well playing for the West Indies.
On his debut against England and making his first Test century...
It was very good, I was excited. It was even more special that I scored my first half century at Bourda. I think that was an indication that there were good things to come. I hope I can continue to build on that and move on to a long career for the West Indies.
It was a great feeling to get my first test century, I?m looking forward to getting more and it did give me a huge amount of confidence. It?s a good feeling to get it against England as well because since from Under 19?s I?ve been doing well against them.
On the difficulties of making it back into the West Indies team?
It was difficult making it back as an opener, I was in and out so I had to perform consistently to make it back and then I have to now perform consistently to stay on the team.
It is never easy as an opening batsman, or as a batsman on the whole. You make one simple mistake in a fraction of a second and you can be dropped for a whole season. It can be a very brutal game at times but you have to take the good with the bad and make sure that you grab all your opportunities and that is what I am always trying to do.
On his current batting form...
I?m feeling confident. In the first game I got 88, but really since I was playing in the KFC Cup I?ve been in good form. Scoring 115 in the match against Queensland was a good start to this series. To start on that note and to take it into the Test was a real boost to my confidence.
I was disappointed to not get the hundred, very much disappointed, but at the state of the game I wanted to come back the next day because it was the close to the end of play for the day and the team needed me to stay there and I wanted to stay on.
On Bennett King's tough training regimen...
It?s hard but as along as you?re fit it becomes a bit easy, it?s alright and I am coping with it. We are certainly doing much more work now than before but we still have to put in more work and the results will begin to show once we continue to put in the work. There is nothing in life that you seem immediate results. You have to put in long hard hours and be patience and believe in what you are doing and eventually it will pay off.
The fans can become a little frustrated because they want to see us win and we have to understand their position as well so we have to be patient and keep working hard. Eventually we will get the results and the fans will be happy once again.
* Read the full text of the interview at DigicelCricket.com.