Situation Name - Smith's Match

Difficulty Rating = 3 (ratings go from 1 easy to 6 nearly impossible)

At Lord's in 1991 the England batsman Robin Smith scored a magnificent 148 not out. When I was using the England 1991 team and the West Indies 1991 team I'd thought I'd try and recreate the game in 1991, using Brian Lara Cricket and see exactly at first hand how it unfolded (or at least matching up how I remember it unfolding on TV to the computer game!). 1991 was quite special as it was the first test series I watched on the television - I was 9 at the time!

Worth a try but it didn't work instead of scoring 411 the West Indies scored 277 on a very green pitch under cloudy skies. Then came England's turn to bat, the skies cleared but that didn't help England, I deliberated lost Atherton's wicket for 5 (b Ambrose) as of the real game. But then more wickets followed that shouldn't have, Gooch (who should have scored 37 made just a single) and Ramprakash (who was run out when a fantastic throw from the gully ran him out for 6 rather than 24 as of 1991).

So here comes the question - can Smith repeat his performance from a position of 24/5 after 7 overs, (he's currently on 12 not out) - with just the lower order and tail for company?

More importantly can the tail support Smith as of the 1991 match when they scored 270 for the last 5 wickets ? (- Although this time far less runs are actually needed.)

The West Indies bowling is very good and its probably a question of how quickly can Smith score his runs (Smith averages nearly 50, but the tail certainly doesn't! England will not need as many as they did in 1991, but as of 1991 - they may have a chance to win the game so every run is vital. For anyone who didn't see the game Smith was like Botham in 1981 with his approach to batting being discribed in the match report as 'Awesome' and 'without Smith and the support of his lower order collegues, the West Indies score would have been more than simply daunting - it would have been match winning.'

In 1991, it was said that had England had another day and the bit between their teeth they may have dismissed the West Indies cheaply and then scored the runs needed to win. (England had the West Indies at 12/2 at the close of play on the final day).

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