Denly rides the luck but misses the jackpot

You need luck to be an international cricketer and even more to continue as one. Ed Smith knows as much.

The national selector, who fulfilled the first part by breaking into the England side but only managed a stay of three Tests, wrote a book on the phenomenon. In it Smith talks through the tangible examples of luck, such as your upbringing or the school you attend, and the vagaries of, say, the bounce of a ball. Among many conclusions is Smith's belief that the amount of luck that contributes to success is often underestimated.

So when Smith picked Kent's