A new batting star has emerged this season in New Zealand.

Unfortunately for Sir Richard Hadlee and David Trist, convener and coach of the CLEAR Black Caps respectively, he is exciting English import Ben Smith.

The first player to reach 500 runs in the Shell Trophy this season by a whisker from Wellington's Matthew Bell, Smith has impressed many observers including ex-New Zealand all rounder Dipak Patel and seasoned Radio Sport commentator Paul Rutledge. Ex-Canterbury batsman Rutledge believes Smith "adds a lot to a team like Central Districts." With Sinclair away a lot of the season, Smith has taken over his strokemaking role successfully, with "the way he always plays positively," a particular feature.

New Zealand star Mathew Sinclair has also enjoyed Smith's presence at CD. "We needed a batsman to replace Jake (Oram), Spears and myself. He's been consistent and done pretty well this season."

Smith's 124 in 270 balls against Otago at Wanganui was his first century this season, which he followed up in the second innings by hitting the winning runs to guide his team to a nine-wicket triumph. This was CD's only Trophy win so far in an indifferent season.

He did even better with 168 off 264 balls against Canterbury, and with three fifties, in just seven completed innings, Smith has shown marvellous run scoring reliability. By early January he had made 606 at 75.75, making him the No 1 run scorer in the country.

The 28 year old Leicestershire right-hander first came to New Zealand in 1997/8 to play club cricket in the Hawkes Bay area.

He returned this season when expat Englishman, and former county pro Dipak Patel offered him the chance to play for CD. The attraction to come back was to play first class cricket and "to hopefully get recognition from the clubs I want to play for in the future."

Patel is seen by Smith as "a very approachable coach. He makes decisions and takes them on the chin whether they're good or bad. He listens to what the players have to say. Basically, even though things haven't gone as well as they could have gone before Christmas, now we've started to find a bit of form and fight for each other and now it looks like we're on the way up again."

He has also played in Zimbabwe, South Africa and had three English winters in Australia. Lysa, his wife accompanies him and one of the attractions of Central, apart from the cricket is the friends they have made in the country.

Last season's lone English import, Craig White, played just three Shell Cup games, with little success, before being called into the England side in South Africa. "And he's never looked back," says Smith, hoping the same scouts who watched White at CD are watching him.

Smith made his county debut in 1990 and had a record of 6698 runs in 142 matches at 36.60 before coming over to New Zealand.

Leicestershire were county champions in 1996 and 1998. Smith's 204 against Surrey in the final match of that season, when he and Aftab Habib put on a record 252 for the fourth wicket clinched the title. His 1243 runs in 1996 were a key feature in that season's triumph. They were third in 1999 and fourth last year. Habib and Smith have been vying for a place in the England side in recent seasons.

Daniel Marsh, son of Rod Marsh, legendary Australian wicketkeeper, replaces Indian leggie Anil Kumble as Leicestershire's overseas pro next season. Smith says " I don't know much about him. Over the last few years Leicestershire have had less superstar players signed as overseas players and they've done very well, so that might be what Leicester are looking for." Neil Johnson, Phil Simmons and Mike Kasprowicz are some of Leicestershire's recent signings. Previously Hansie Cronje was with the Midland county. Smith, for obvious reasons does not have much to add other than his "disappointment" with Cronje's match-fixing history.

He believes Black Cap skipper Stephen Fleming will "do well" in the English county game for Middlesex and may regain the knack of scoring centuries against the weaker non-international attacks. "They've got good pitches down there," adds Smith, referring to Lord's and the lesser known Middlesex ground, Uxbridge.

Smith thinks county cricket in England is stronger in quality than New Zealand, but believes "it's a good standard of cricket." "There certainly is a difference," he thinks, but "it all depends on the team your playing against and how they actually perform on the day."

Ben Smith is in fact doing a kind of Stewie Dempster in reverse. Dempster was named one of Wisden's five cricketers of the year in 1931, commenting, " in Dempster, New Zealand possessed the best batsman that country has ever produced."

After all he did average a phenomenal 65 in 10 tests for New Zealand.

Dempster developed his cricket on the New Zealand tour to England in 1927. He later said, "It was not until I came to England in 1927 that I learned cricket. That tour not only taught me not to do certain things which i had been in the habit of doing, but, more important still, the experience of New Zealand bowlers on English wickets opened my eyes to the real possibilities of how to make runs." ..

Smith would love to come back, saying, "if the team's successful there's every chance of returning to play for the same side, but obviously if there's weakness they've got to fill that first."

In Ben Smith, New Zealand domestic cricket has a class batsman who is willing and able to entertain local audiences once more.

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