Ben Smith's story is an old one - as old as cricket. A lean spell breaks and at the most opportune moment and a player out of form reveals his true talent with a century.

Not just a century but one which is redolent of class and technical excellence and one which has no vestige, no hint of the poor run of form that has preceded it.

And the reasons ascribed by the player to his change of form are again as old as sport. Smith no longer has the cares of the captaincy, responsibilities which caused him to subordinate the needs of his own game to the needs of the team.

But the greatest begetter of form and the oldest is hard work. Smith has addressed the shortcomings of his own game and, after overcoming a limited preparation, has come out of his slump stronger and more confident, has begun to harvest the fruits of his labours.

There was the consideration today, as well, that Smith had a challenge in front of him when he came to the crease and that challenge provoked the competitor in him to bring out his best form.

Central Districts were two for two when Smith came to the crease at 4.05pm this afternoon, replying to Canterbury's imposing first innings of 428. They had lost both openers and there was not yet a run from the bat. Neither Richard Scragg nor David Kelly had scored - both were out lbw - and the only runs against Central's name were from no-balls.

Then Jamie How was out, also lbw, and Smith found himself alone - about to be joined by Glen Sulzberger - and Central were seven for three. This was a crisis. Central were yet 275 runs from the follow on and their top order was reduced to rubble.

But Central found in Smith a man whose moment had come.

Nor should Sulzberger's contribution be under-rated. There was irony in the fact the Central captaincy has passed this season between Smith and Sulzberger. Smith had not asked to be relieved of the responsibility of leadership - though he felt the duties of captaincy had begun to impinge on his form - but the decision had been made to make Sulzberger captain in Smith's place.

Smith said that decision had been taken for sensible and understandable reasons - because he is an Englishman based here temporarily and because Sulzberger, relatively young and indisputably local, is likely to serve Central Districts for many years in the future.

Smith believes he has a role to play for Central, not just as a batsman but in passing on the fruits of his experience to younger players. But he supports the decision to move the captaincy onto a man whose long term future is with the province, an association Smith has come from Leicestershire to serve.

Smith was able to rise quickly above the crisis in which he found himself immersed when he came to the crease. He batted from the outset with fluency and confidence and as he prospered, so too did Central's trial lessen.

Smith reached his half century from only 53 balls - the fastest of the five half centuries the match has seen so far - and then to a century - a very satisfying century - from 132 balls.

He reached his century, or at least he thought he had reached his century, when he hooked a ball from Wade Cornelius forward of square leg. Smith turned, even before the ball fetched the boundary, and raised his arms in triumph towards his team-mates gathered at fine leg.

In fact, the scoreboard had overstated Smith's total by one and he was only 99. There were no further alarms and he achieved his hundred in the scorers' estimation from the following ball.

"The fact is I didn't have the best preparation for the start of the season and having the captaincy, while it offered me another challenge, didn't always have a positive impact on my form," Smith said.

"I spent a lot of time thinking about that, about the needs of the team and I put my game to one side to help in other areas.

"But I also put a lot of work in the off season at home into getting right back and getting right forward, to put it in a technical sense. I felt that had helped my game and it was a matter of time before it began to show."

Smith's effort was to ensure he played both lengths decisively and he did so today. Many of his runs were scored in an arc between midwicket and backward square and that also reflected a change in his game, in his strokeplay, occasioned by study and hard work.

Smith realised he had become a player who relied, for many of his runs, on width outside off stump and he recognised, equally, that bowlers had begun to take account of that fact. So he adjusted his game to be less reliant on that area and his success was revealed today in the success of his leg-side strokeplay.

He began to work that arc most obviously when New Zealand fast bowler Chris Martin, who bowled his first 10 overs consecutively from the city end, began to tire and to stray from a full length. Martin had taken the wicket of Scragg with the second ball of his first over.

Warren Wisneski, who cut his teeth in Taranaki, took the two other wickets to fall - those of Kelly, who offered no shot to a full in-swinger and was caught on the back pad, and of How.

Smith was 102 not out at stumps - Central were revived at 166/3 - and Sulzberger, who batted with the quaint seriousness of a captain come to the aid of his team, was 48 and batting with impressive soundness.

Canterbury were earlier all out for 428, having resumed at 301/5. Chris Harris went from 46 not out overnight to 52 and was out when his innings had seemed full of promise. He didn't recover the form today he had begun to show before stumps on the first night when he had six fours and three sixes.

Paul Wiseman held together the tail of an impressive innings with 59, batting more than two hours.

© CricInfo