Explosive Will Smeed following David Warner’s path to World Cup reckoning

Will Smeed could have been forgiven for wondering if he was more 90s than Cool Britannia and an episode of the Big Breakfast rolled into one (that is, if he hadn’t been born in 2001 and therefore possibly unaware of Zig and Zag). The right-hander had been flirting with his first century in professional cricket all year, making eye-catching scores of 97 and 99 for Quetta Gladiators in the Pakistan Super League, and then 94 not out and 98 for Somerset in the Blast. Last month, playing for England Lions, he also cracked a 56-ball 90 against the touring South Africans.

But on Wednesday night, decked out in the Butterkist-sponsored orange livery of Birmingham Phoenix, Smeed made himself a future pub quiz answer by pummelling Southern Brave’s bowlers for an unbeaten 101 off 50 balls for the first hundred in the short history of the Hundred.

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Though the tournament statistically counts as Twenty20 cricket, its shorter innings – just 16.4 overs in old money – in part explain why it took a season and a bit to see a batter breach three-figures; Smeed’s teammate Liam Livingstone’s 40-ball 92 against Northern Superchargers last year was the previous highest score among the men.

Suffice to say,Smeed didn’t muck about when setting up his side’s 53-run victory, muscling his half-century from 25 balls and his next 50 runs from one fewer. Eight fours and six sixes sent roars from Edgbaston echoing around the leafy suburbs of south Birmingham and Moeen Ali, his captain, thinks higher honours are inevitable. “There’s just something about him,” he said. “He’s got a really good hitting technique – very