![[JUGRAJ SINGH]](https://www.unp.me/data/avatars/m/123/123038.jpg?1591210006){kind=avatar}
Expecting a monotonous reply, I asked: "Is there something that you regret not achieving in cricket?" The question, designed to draft an end to the conversation, offered a human touch instead.
"Yes, it's just gone," the tone of Dwayne Smith's voice drops with each word that he utters, giving away a poignant cocktail of emotions that he is trying to suppress by avoiding an eye contact. "I really wanted to play the last World Cup," he tells Cricbuzz.
As video clippings of the 'Champion' dance from the Caribbean islands and other parts of the world went viral following West Indies' World Twenty20 win, Smith sat sulking in front of his television set still wondering what wrong he did not to merit a place in the squad. "But what can you do? You can't do nothing about it now. It's gone. I liked that the guys won it. But I'm really really disappointed," he says overcoming the choke in his voice. The very statement turned the mood of the conversation in which Smith was, until then, a proud narrator.
"I'm thinking it was going to be my last World Cup, so I really felt sad and disappointed at not getting selected after knowing that I've the second-most runs in T20 cricket since 2011." He was quite accurate with his numbers, and if purely cricketing reasons are to be argued, there was very little that went against him. In fact, just before the team was selected for the World Cup, he had smashed a couple of half-centuries in four matches, including a Man of the Match innings in the Pakistan Super League final.
He chuckles at the idea of playing another global tournament and says nonchalantly, "I'll say that I don't know. I don't know what the selectors will be thinking, I don't know what will be going on."
Being brought up in a cricketing family at Codrington Hill in St Michael, Barbados, Smith feels cricket was in his genes or that everybody in the West Indies wanted to be a cricketer. Despite having his father Wilbur Bruce playing competitive cricket, it was his uncle who took special interest in getting Smith, the eldest sibling in the family, involved in the game. It was as a five-year-old, that Smith remembers, being taken to watch a cricket match by his uncle.
"My uncle started teaching me how to bowl first. Then he got me to bat. The only thing that I knew at that time was playing cricket."
Despite having an endless list of legends in Barbados to look up to, Smith tried to base his game on Viv Richards. "My favourite was Viv Richards, Sir Viv Richards now," he corrects himself. "He is the closest to my batting style."
While he hasn't quite been able to replicate the success of the Antigua legend, he has surely carried along the aggression. It is no surprise that today, Smith says, with a bit of cockiness, "Dwayne goes soft on nobody. He attacks every bowler."
"Robin Singh worked so hard on my batting, I want to thank him for the rest of my life," said Smith. © Getty
The start to his first-class career wasn't the merriest as he finished each of his first two seasons with Barbados with a batting average in the mid-20s. There was little noteworthy contribution with the ball to talk about. However, cricket seemed better in limited overs. After getting out for a duck on his List A debut, he finished the Red Strip Bowl season with an average of close to 40. That season, following Marlon Samuels's knee injury, paved way for his international debut with no lesser than Viv Richards himself, in popular Barbadian folklore, claiming to have seen something of himself in Smith.
While it seemed a surprise selection in the cricketing circles, Smith wasn't taken aback by the call-up to play for West Indies. "Actually, I had got the inside info," he laughs as he revealed the little secret. "Corry Collymore and Fidel Edwards were on that tour and they had called me and given me a heads up that I might be selected. I was playing a trial game at that time at home. And I got a call after the trial game that I will be joining the team and travelling to South Africa."
It turned out to be a memorable debut as he scored an unbeaten run-a-ball century in the New Year Test to help West Indies save the third match at Newlands in Cape Town. The knock that came against a bowling attack comprising of Shaun Pollock, Makhaya Ntini, Andre Nel and Jacques Kallis, not only helped save the match for the visitors, but also put them in a position to chase down the mammoth target of 441 runs, but for the lack of time.
Sadly for him, that remained his only century (till date) in international cricket. His Test career went on an unhindered downward slide. He went on to play only nine more matches in which he failed to go past the half-century mark again and his average plummeted below 25.
His One-Day International (ODI) stint, which began on the same tour, got off on an average note with some decent contributions against South Africa, followed by England at home. However, then followed his most successful international series, where he won back-to-back Man of the Match awards against Bangladesh. In the same series, he registered his maiden ODI fifty and also bagged his first wicket.
However, much like his Test exploits, there was no upward swing to his ODI career. Amidst innumerable under-10 scores were the occasional half-centuries. He has failed to score a single ton in over 100 ODIs.
Not surprisingly, following West Indies' Super 8 exit in the 2007 World Cup, he was left out of the ODI side for nearly three years. He played for them in the inaugural World T20. But following their failure in that event, he was shown the door in the shortest format too.
"The three years that I was left out was the toughest period, it felt awful. I thought I was putting in the work, I just wasn't getting selected. But it happens. I always knew that the coaches were behind me and telling what to do.
"At that time, Queen's Park Cricket Club had taken some interest in me, took me up in a period where I was not playing any cricket, they gave me cricket and supported me right through until I got back into the (national) team."
He also signed up with Sussex in the 2008 season for the Twenty20 tournament and after initial success, signed a two-year deal with the side as a Kolpak player. His success as a player transformed to his side as they reached various finals and even won Pro40 Cup and the Twenty20 Cup.
His time away from the national team was also a time when international cricket was rapidly evolving. Twenty20's success had most boards hopping to take it up seriously and formed their own leagues, starting from the IPL. New shots and new deliveries were being invented. And it didn't take time, for T20's impact to fall on ODIs, Tests and even domestic cricket.
However, Smith refused to disregard his natural talent, relying on his power, while not bringing in any unconventional innovations to his batting. "I've the power to get the ball away. So I don't really have to try much." Even his coaches Henderson Springer, Roddy Estwick and Dale Alcock asked him to keep his cricket simple. "All of them had told me one thing 'try to hit the ball. Don't go for the cheeky shots'. So I stuck to what I know best and what gave me the best result."
While praising the likes of Darren Lehmann, Mark Robinson and Robin Singh - coaches with whom he has worked with while representing different teams in other countries, he took a subtle dig at some of coaches who held the reins of West Indies. "I never changed anything. Basically what I did was tried to make sure I'm getting the correct practice. And I keep repeating that all the time. I never change my game. I know some of the coaches would like me to, but I never change my game because that's what works for me."
He did make his comeback into the West Indian side for the series in Australia in 2010. It was also a period when West Indies cricket was going through an all-time low. The fact that their first-class structure was collapsing, players weren't getting paid adequately and that they weren't playing with the same kind of spirit that had made them world dominators in cricket for nearly two decades had been going on for long. But, never earlier, had it reached this low.
Playing his comeback series in Australia, he returned with an average of 61.5 in four matches.
He was a regular pick in the IPL, coming in as a replacement for Dwayne Bravo in 2008, being picked by Deccan Chargers the year later in which they emerged as the winners. However, there were only rare instances of significant contributions from him before 2012 when Mumbai Indians bought him as a replacement for Mitchell Johnson.
He may not have been their chosen opener in that tournament, but he did get his opportunity initially as a middle-order batsman. In Match 49 of that edition, he slammed a six and two boundaries off Ben Hilfenhaus to take Mumbai Indians home off the last ball with two wickets to spare against Chennai Super Kings. In many ways, that is where the dissection of Smith's career can be done - before that knock and after it.
Smith was soon moved to open the batting with Sachin Tendulkar, a position from where consistency found a chapter in his career. "One of my dreams come true was playing cricket with Sachin (Tendulkar) and actually going out and opening the innings with him. I never thought that would happen, but it did happen and I'm very proud of that."
Next year again, with Mumbai buying Ricky Ponting and appointing him as the captain of the side, there was no place for Smith. However, a run of poor scores, prompted Ponting to give up captaincy and his place in the team. Smith was his replacement in the Playing XI, and the West Indian didn't disappoint. In fact, his consistent scoring at the top of the order throughout the the season helped Mumbai Indians lift their maiden IPL trophy and followed it up with their first Champions League win.
Crediting Robin Singh for his success in India, he said, "He's worked so hard on my batting, I want to thank him for the rest of my life." He further went on to explain the technical changes that the Mumbai Indians coach suggested. "It was basically about keeping my head position still, watching the ball longer and staying a lot lower, because the pitches in India keep a lot lower. I took his advice positively, and for me it still does work. He still calls me and gives me information as and when he can."
He found his place back in the national team and became a popular pick in T20 leagues across the world. Next year, Chennai Super Kings bid Rs 4.25 Crore for Smith and made him the regular opener of the team alongside Brendon McCullum. The West Indian finished as the second highest run-getter in the 2014 season with 566 runs.
As far as his his form wearing the West Indian maroon went, 2012 turned out to be a good year, possibly his best so far, as he put up consistent performances in both limited-overs formats. However, in the year that followed bizarre selection calls kept him away from the game yet again. "Some of the times there were downs, a lot of information (spread) around the team and stuff like that."
Even though Smith has just turned 33, he feels the clock is ticking on his career, not too optimistic of a long future in the game.
Even though Smith has just turned 33, he feels the clock is ticking on his career, not too optimistic of a long future in the game. © Getty
Having played only one match in West Indies' successful campaign in the 2012 World T20, he was drafted into the side ahead of the 2014 competition and was a regular opener throughout the tournament. He continued to hold on to his place in the ODI and T20 side till the 50-over World Cup, where West Indies crashed out in the quarterfinals.
Somewhere caught in the midst of the endless drama over pay disputes and numerous other non-cricketing reasons argued by the West Indian cricketers, selectors, board and the players' association, Smith never got a chance back in the side. "I hope it does get sorted out because I'm sure we have some promising youngsters coming through in our cricket and I hope it doesn't go to waste."
Even though he has just turned 33, he feels the clock is ticking on his career, not too optimistic of a long future in the game. Speaking on whether he is content on what he has achieved with his career so far, Smith says, "At the moment, I think I have enough. To be honest, you never have enough. It is enough until I'm getting selected again. I'm not getting any younger and there are youngsters coming through and I don't want to stop that. And once they come through, I hope they have a better position and push from the coaches as well.
"A lot many guys are looking to play just for money. But there are guys like Carlos Brathwaithe, Jason Holder, Shane Dowrich, Jonathan Carter and some of those guys are going to come through and I hope they get enough facilities, practice and work from the coaches to push them."
On peppering him with the question of what change has he noticed in the West Indian team over the last decade - from his debut till date, he confirms observing a drastic change in the way players practice and adds, "The first-class cricket isn't as competitive as it used to be. I keep listening to Desmond Haynes because I play golf with him. Listening to him, and hearing how their competition was when they were coming up was so much different for it was for us."
It did paint a merry picture for him, watching the men from Caribbean islands bully cricket teams around the world. As he grew up, sadly, the world changed and the reality of it all was strangely different. "At a point of time, it (the dream) was (to play) cricket for the West Indies. Now they have IPL and all that stuff. Playing at the highest level for me and performing is the best (dream)."
With a bit of pain, sadness and self-induced motivation, he concluded, "I know I've been through a lot. But I know I'm strong and nothing can pull me down."
"Yes, it's just gone," the tone of Dwayne Smith's voice drops with each word that he utters, giving away a poignant cocktail of emotions that he is trying to suppress by avoiding an eye contact. "I really wanted to play the last World Cup," he tells Cricbuzz.
As video clippings of the 'Champion' dance from the Caribbean islands and other parts of the world went viral following West Indies' World Twenty20 win, Smith sat sulking in front of his television set still wondering what wrong he did not to merit a place in the squad. "But what can you do? You can't do nothing about it now. It's gone. I liked that the guys won it. But I'm really really disappointed," he says overcoming the choke in his voice. The very statement turned the mood of the conversation in which Smith was, until then, a proud narrator.
"I'm thinking it was going to be my last World Cup, so I really felt sad and disappointed at not getting selected after knowing that I've the second-most runs in T20 cricket since 2011." He was quite accurate with his numbers, and if purely cricketing reasons are to be argued, there was very little that went against him. In fact, just before the team was selected for the World Cup, he had smashed a couple of half-centuries in four matches, including a Man of the Match innings in the Pakistan Super League final.
He chuckles at the idea of playing another global tournament and says nonchalantly, "I'll say that I don't know. I don't know what the selectors will be thinking, I don't know what will be going on."
Being brought up in a cricketing family at Codrington Hill in St Michael, Barbados, Smith feels cricket was in his genes or that everybody in the West Indies wanted to be a cricketer. Despite having his father Wilbur Bruce playing competitive cricket, it was his uncle who took special interest in getting Smith, the eldest sibling in the family, involved in the game. It was as a five-year-old, that Smith remembers, being taken to watch a cricket match by his uncle.
"My uncle started teaching me how to bowl first. Then he got me to bat. The only thing that I knew at that time was playing cricket."
Despite having an endless list of legends in Barbados to look up to, Smith tried to base his game on Viv Richards. "My favourite was Viv Richards, Sir Viv Richards now," he corrects himself. "He is the closest to my batting style."
While he hasn't quite been able to replicate the success of the Antigua legend, he has surely carried along the aggression. It is no surprise that today, Smith says, with a bit of cockiness, "Dwayne goes soft on nobody. He attacks every bowler."
"Robin Singh worked so hard on my batting, I want to thank him for the rest of my life," said Smith. © Getty
The start to his first-class career wasn't the merriest as he finished each of his first two seasons with Barbados with a batting average in the mid-20s. There was little noteworthy contribution with the ball to talk about. However, cricket seemed better in limited overs. After getting out for a duck on his List A debut, he finished the Red Strip Bowl season with an average of close to 40. That season, following Marlon Samuels's knee injury, paved way for his international debut with no lesser than Viv Richards himself, in popular Barbadian folklore, claiming to have seen something of himself in Smith.
While it seemed a surprise selection in the cricketing circles, Smith wasn't taken aback by the call-up to play for West Indies. "Actually, I had got the inside info," he laughs as he revealed the little secret. "Corry Collymore and Fidel Edwards were on that tour and they had called me and given me a heads up that I might be selected. I was playing a trial game at that time at home. And I got a call after the trial game that I will be joining the team and travelling to South Africa."
It turned out to be a memorable debut as he scored an unbeaten run-a-ball century in the New Year Test to help West Indies save the third match at Newlands in Cape Town. The knock that came against a bowling attack comprising of Shaun Pollock, Makhaya Ntini, Andre Nel and Jacques Kallis, not only helped save the match for the visitors, but also put them in a position to chase down the mammoth target of 441 runs, but for the lack of time.
Sadly for him, that remained his only century (till date) in international cricket. His Test career went on an unhindered downward slide. He went on to play only nine more matches in which he failed to go past the half-century mark again and his average plummeted below 25.
His One-Day International (ODI) stint, which began on the same tour, got off on an average note with some decent contributions against South Africa, followed by England at home. However, then followed his most successful international series, where he won back-to-back Man of the Match awards against Bangladesh. In the same series, he registered his maiden ODI fifty and also bagged his first wicket.
However, much like his Test exploits, there was no upward swing to his ODI career. Amidst innumerable under-10 scores were the occasional half-centuries. He has failed to score a single ton in over 100 ODIs.
Not surprisingly, following West Indies' Super 8 exit in the 2007 World Cup, he was left out of the ODI side for nearly three years. He played for them in the inaugural World T20. But following their failure in that event, he was shown the door in the shortest format too.
"The three years that I was left out was the toughest period, it felt awful. I thought I was putting in the work, I just wasn't getting selected. But it happens. I always knew that the coaches were behind me and telling what to do.
"At that time, Queen's Park Cricket Club had taken some interest in me, took me up in a period where I was not playing any cricket, they gave me cricket and supported me right through until I got back into the (national) team."
He also signed up with Sussex in the 2008 season for the Twenty20 tournament and after initial success, signed a two-year deal with the side as a Kolpak player. His success as a player transformed to his side as they reached various finals and even won Pro40 Cup and the Twenty20 Cup.
His time away from the national team was also a time when international cricket was rapidly evolving. Twenty20's success had most boards hopping to take it up seriously and formed their own leagues, starting from the IPL. New shots and new deliveries were being invented. And it didn't take time, for T20's impact to fall on ODIs, Tests and even domestic cricket.
However, Smith refused to disregard his natural talent, relying on his power, while not bringing in any unconventional innovations to his batting. "I've the power to get the ball away. So I don't really have to try much." Even his coaches Henderson Springer, Roddy Estwick and Dale Alcock asked him to keep his cricket simple. "All of them had told me one thing 'try to hit the ball. Don't go for the cheeky shots'. So I stuck to what I know best and what gave me the best result."
While praising the likes of Darren Lehmann, Mark Robinson and Robin Singh - coaches with whom he has worked with while representing different teams in other countries, he took a subtle dig at some of coaches who held the reins of West Indies. "I never changed anything. Basically what I did was tried to make sure I'm getting the correct practice. And I keep repeating that all the time. I never change my game. I know some of the coaches would like me to, but I never change my game because that's what works for me."
He did make his comeback into the West Indian side for the series in Australia in 2010. It was also a period when West Indies cricket was going through an all-time low. The fact that their first-class structure was collapsing, players weren't getting paid adequately and that they weren't playing with the same kind of spirit that had made them world dominators in cricket for nearly two decades had been going on for long. But, never earlier, had it reached this low.
Playing his comeback series in Australia, he returned with an average of 61.5 in four matches.
He was a regular pick in the IPL, coming in as a replacement for Dwayne Bravo in 2008, being picked by Deccan Chargers the year later in which they emerged as the winners. However, there were only rare instances of significant contributions from him before 2012 when Mumbai Indians bought him as a replacement for Mitchell Johnson.
He may not have been their chosen opener in that tournament, but he did get his opportunity initially as a middle-order batsman. In Match 49 of that edition, he slammed a six and two boundaries off Ben Hilfenhaus to take Mumbai Indians home off the last ball with two wickets to spare against Chennai Super Kings. In many ways, that is where the dissection of Smith's career can be done - before that knock and after it.
Smith was soon moved to open the batting with Sachin Tendulkar, a position from where consistency found a chapter in his career. "One of my dreams come true was playing cricket with Sachin (Tendulkar) and actually going out and opening the innings with him. I never thought that would happen, but it did happen and I'm very proud of that."
Next year again, with Mumbai buying Ricky Ponting and appointing him as the captain of the side, there was no place for Smith. However, a run of poor scores, prompted Ponting to give up captaincy and his place in the team. Smith was his replacement in the Playing XI, and the West Indian didn't disappoint. In fact, his consistent scoring at the top of the order throughout the the season helped Mumbai Indians lift their maiden IPL trophy and followed it up with their first Champions League win.
Crediting Robin Singh for his success in India, he said, "He's worked so hard on my batting, I want to thank him for the rest of my life." He further went on to explain the technical changes that the Mumbai Indians coach suggested. "It was basically about keeping my head position still, watching the ball longer and staying a lot lower, because the pitches in India keep a lot lower. I took his advice positively, and for me it still does work. He still calls me and gives me information as and when he can."
He found his place back in the national team and became a popular pick in T20 leagues across the world. Next year, Chennai Super Kings bid Rs 4.25 Crore for Smith and made him the regular opener of the team alongside Brendon McCullum. The West Indian finished as the second highest run-getter in the 2014 season with 566 runs.
As far as his his form wearing the West Indian maroon went, 2012 turned out to be a good year, possibly his best so far, as he put up consistent performances in both limited-overs formats. However, in the year that followed bizarre selection calls kept him away from the game yet again. "Some of the times there were downs, a lot of information (spread) around the team and stuff like that."
Even though Smith has just turned 33, he feels the clock is ticking on his career, not too optimistic of a long future in the game.
Even though Smith has just turned 33, he feels the clock is ticking on his career, not too optimistic of a long future in the game. © Getty
Having played only one match in West Indies' successful campaign in the 2012 World T20, he was drafted into the side ahead of the 2014 competition and was a regular opener throughout the tournament. He continued to hold on to his place in the ODI and T20 side till the 50-over World Cup, where West Indies crashed out in the quarterfinals.
Somewhere caught in the midst of the endless drama over pay disputes and numerous other non-cricketing reasons argued by the West Indian cricketers, selectors, board and the players' association, Smith never got a chance back in the side. "I hope it does get sorted out because I'm sure we have some promising youngsters coming through in our cricket and I hope it doesn't go to waste."
Even though he has just turned 33, he feels the clock is ticking on his career, not too optimistic of a long future in the game. Speaking on whether he is content on what he has achieved with his career so far, Smith says, "At the moment, I think I have enough. To be honest, you never have enough. It is enough until I'm getting selected again. I'm not getting any younger and there are youngsters coming through and I don't want to stop that. And once they come through, I hope they have a better position and push from the coaches as well.
"A lot many guys are looking to play just for money. But there are guys like Carlos Brathwaithe, Jason Holder, Shane Dowrich, Jonathan Carter and some of those guys are going to come through and I hope they get enough facilities, practice and work from the coaches to push them."
On peppering him with the question of what change has he noticed in the West Indian team over the last decade - from his debut till date, he confirms observing a drastic change in the way players practice and adds, "The first-class cricket isn't as competitive as it used to be. I keep listening to Desmond Haynes because I play golf with him. Listening to him, and hearing how their competition was when they were coming up was so much different for it was for us."
It did paint a merry picture for him, watching the men from Caribbean islands bully cricket teams around the world. As he grew up, sadly, the world changed and the reality of it all was strangely different. "At a point of time, it (the dream) was (to play) cricket for the West Indies. Now they have IPL and all that stuff. Playing at the highest level for me and performing is the best (dream)."
With a bit of pain, sadness and self-induced motivation, he concluded, "I know I've been through a lot. But I know I'm strong and nothing can pull me down."
![[JUGRAJ SINGH]](https://www.unp.me/data/avatars/s/123/123038.jpg?1591210006){kind=avatar}
