Complete madness from Robin Smith to bat against those fierce West Indies quicks without a visor on his helmet. Maybe he just wanted to appear tough, I don't know, but getting hit in the face meant he missed the last two Tests needlessly on what ended up being the two best batting tracks of the series.
Smith said in his autobiography that he never felt in danger against the quick bowlers until this happened. And to tell the truth, the WI pace quartet was on its way down at this point (I'm sure you've seen the video here of England v West Indies at Old Trafford in 1976). I think Smith was very unlucky here. Though I do remember watching this live on TV and thinking "That doesn't look good." It was no surprise when we saw Robin Smith visored up after this during the tour of South Africa a few months later. To this day, Smith says there are parts of his face that have no feeling due to that blow.
@@matthewlawrenson3628With that I bet he regrets not wearing one now! But I don't agree the WI bowlers were on their way down, certainly not Walsh and Ambrose who were still top bowlers 5 years later in 2000 when they were still causing all kinds of problems for England batsmen. I think Smith was just trying to be a bit bolshie by not wearing a visor. If I'd have been his captain I'd have made him wear one in every Test and cut out an unnecessary risk and the pitch in this Test was the usual bouncy Old Trafford wicket. He unfortunately paid the price.
1st time I ever went to a cricket match aged 9 on the 2nd row saw a hat trick in the first over, A Brian Lara century and an England win! Doesn’t really get much better than that! 👌🏻
Stupid selection from the West Indies cost them this match. They had Chanderpaul making hundreds in the tour matches and sitting on the bench while Keith Arthurton was out of form and injured but kept getting selected.
