Smith: I’m ready to fight right now
CALLUM SMITH wants to dive back in at the deep end with a super-middleweight unification fight against David Benavidez or Caleb Plant.
The 30-year-old would have liked to have had a tune-up first but he is itching for a chance to put his WBA title on the line against WBC champ Benavidez or IBF top dog Plant.
Smith said: “It’s a catch-22. I could be close to 12 months out of the ring but we’ve all had a year out and we can’t really afford to waste another six months having a tune-up fight.”
ENGLAND will have to scrap for their lives to avoid a first Test defeat after a middle order collapse put thewindies in pole position ahead of the final day. Good work from Zak Crawley and Ben Stokes was pinned back by a late-session flourish from the
Windies bowlers to put them on the brink of a very getable run-chase.
From 249-3, England finished the day 284-8, with a lead of 170 on a pitch that is only just starting to misbehave.
Once again,windies skipper Jason Holder held the key to the change in momentum by getting rid of Stokes for 46 for the second time in the match to break a 98-run partnership with Crawley.
But the Kent man fell in the next over for a career-high 76, with Alzarri Joseph and Shannon Gabriel finishing the day strongly.
“It was a real shame to lose those wickets quickly,” said Crawley. “When I was batting with Ben it felt like we were getting on top of the game.
“The lead was never that big and we knew they would come back strong at us with the second new ball and they did, but for a time we felt on top.
“It was massively disappointing to go so soon after Ben, especially with the other wickets falling after us.
“The pitch is offering a bit of up-and-down bounce, so we’ll work with that all day tomorrow and we’ve definitely got the bowlers to take 10 wickets on there.”
Whatever the result here, it now looks as though Crawley will at least be a part of the side that heads to Old Trafford for the second instalment.
Both he and Joe Denly are well aware that the return of skipper Joe Root means one of them has to make way and current form is as good a reason as any on which to base the decision.
At 22, Crawley is the youngster with his career stretched out in front of him and who would certainly have the chance to return to the side if he missed out at any point in the near future.
For Denly, 34 is an age that suggests whenever he is finally dropped it would be pretty hard for him to get another go.
His game has been forged by years and years of first-class experience – 211 matches and counting – so it seems unlikely that he is going to get much better in the remaining time he has at the top level.and it is hard to argue that, even across the 15 Tests that he has played so far, there has been a steady improvement in his performances. If anything he has plateaued.
Here he made 29, one less than his overall average and, after a shaky start, appeared to be growing in confidence in the middle.
But with plenty of time and opportunity, he tamely turned the innocuous spin of Roston Chase straight into the hands of Holder to fall 10 minutes before tea and leave his Test career hanging by a thread.
“It is not really my place to say what might happen with selection,”