Good Week, Bad Week

Smith - tidy week.

Good Week

Graeme Smith

Number of IPL matches played by Graeme Smith: 5

Number of noteworthy public pronouncements by Graeme Smith since IPL began: 0

In an era of staggering statistics, this is right among our favourites.

We have long argued that captaining South Africa through the legacies of Hansie Cronje and apartheid makes it the hardest job in international cricket.

And though Smith doesn't always go about his business with the greatest of charm, he has done a largely admirable job from his early 20s.

The opportunity to play under the even more outspoken Shane Warne was billed as a war of words waiting to happen.

Yet while Warne has managed to lead his outsiders to the summit of the table and maintain a media profile to make Posh blanch, his top batsman has gone quietly about his business.

The outcomes so far have been good if not spectacular - 40.50 average at 110.20 s/r - and Smith can only be delighted to get the respite.

Better still he has the chance to observe outstanding leadership at point blank range while working his way towards an auction price of $475,000.

If there is anything more than 11 grown men counting money in silence behind these dressing room doors, then South Africa will surely feel the benefit of such a working holiday.

Example For The Kidz (Who Can Afford A Celebrity Motoring Lawyer)

April, 2007: Following the 'Fredalo' fiasco, Andrew Flintoff vows to set a strong example by taking responsibility for his transgressions: ''I know that what I did on Friday night was completely wrong - there can be no excuses on my part. I know I shouldn't have done what I did and I have to accept the punishment."

May, 2008: Flintoff is cleared of allegedly driving at 87mph in a 50mph zone after hiring a lawyer who has formally trademarked the nickname Mr Loophole. Nick Freeman secured an acquittal because the prosecution notice had arrived two days later than the statutory limit - thus ensuring that Flintoff has to accept neither responsibility nor punishment for his transgressions.

Marylebone CC

Law 6 has been rewritten to ensure "a more equal contest between bat and ball".

While the red-and-yellow striped nonagenarians can be a sight at times, it is difficult to see the career bureaucrats at the ECB or BCCI or ICC standing up to international sports firms in such a way.

Now, who do we speak to about restoring boundary ropes to their positions from a decade ago?

Bad Week

Bangalore Royal Challengers

The IPL franchise have got rid of CEO Charu Sharma after a dismal campaign.

Cricinfo reports: "The choice of Brijesh Patel as CEO was largely motivated by the fact that he is an accomplished cricketer and understands local conditions with the depth that is required, Vijay Mallya, the franchise owner, said in a statement."

This depth of knowledge will no doubt lead him to tell us that Rahul Dravid, Wasim Jaffer and Shivnarine Chanderpaul are not tailor-made top three for Twenty20 cricket.

Even Duncan Fletcher must've clocked that by now, but all players are contracted until 2010.

So where is the advantage in hiring a new man to count out crisp dollar bills up to $3.1million, the amount T20-illiterate Dravid will earn over his three-year deal?

Harmy's International Ambitions

Steve Harmison, Mail on Sunday, March 23: "People who only have a passing interest in the game hear the famous Geoff Boycott Yorkshire accent and may think it gives some status to his opinions. But inside the dressing room he has no status, he is just an accent, some sort of caricature of a professional Yorkshireman."

Daily Telegraph, May 7: "Geoffrey Boycott has been approached by the ECB to coach up-and-coming Test players."

Early Warne-ing System

Last month we mused that Hampshire's announcement of Shane Warne's departure was strangely timed: just days before the championship season began with most fans' membership cheques in the bank but six weeks after the club had promised to finalise his schedule.

But how did the last-minute decision affect a dressing room famously in love with their Australian skipper?

"It wasn't a huge shock that he didn't come back - we weren't really expecting him to, so we were prepared for the post-Warnie era." - Chris Tremlett, Cricinfo, 7th May.

Peter May