Eoin Morgan hails Will Smeed after youngster hits first century of The Hundred, backs him to play for England
India Today
The Hundred 2022: Right-handed batter Will Smeed, on Wednesday, August 10, became the first batter to score a century in the history of the tournament.
Former England skipper Eoin Morgan has backed the swashbuckling Will Smeed to play for the national team in the future. On Wednesday, July 10, Smeed became the first batter to register a century in the Hundred when he accomplished the feat while playing for Birmingham Phoenix in the match against Southern Brave at Edgbaston in Birmingham.
Opening the batting, the 20-year-old Smeed scored an unbeaten 50-ball 101 with the help of eight fours and as many as six sixes. On the back of his knock, the Phoenix racked up a score of 176 for four and went on to win the match by 53 runs.
"It's a line in the sand for English cricket. He doesn't play any first-class cricket, he is predominantly a T20 cricketer and clearly exceptional in what he does, so potentially a new avenue for him is international cricket,” Morgan was quoted as saying to Sky Sports.
Smeed won the Player of the Match award for playing the stupendous knock. Morgan also mentioned that the Young Turk has loads of potential and has become one of the domestic heroes.
"We've seen in other competitions around the world where domestic franchise tournaments which attract big-name players create domestic heroes. Tonight Will Smeed has become one of them," he added.
It was last year that Smeed first played for the Phoenix and captured the imagination of fans with his brutal stroke-making. Earlier this year, Smeed also plied his trade for the Quetta Gladiators, led by Sarfaraz Ahmed, in the 2022 edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL).
In 49 T20 matches, Smeed has scored 1400 runs at an average of 31.81 and, most importantly, at a strike-rate of 146.29 with one century and eight half-centuries.
