Edwin Smith – A Tribute

Derbyshire County Cricket Club is deeply saddened by the news of the death of Edwin Smith, one of the county’s finest cricketers.

Heritage Officer, David Griffin, looks back at the career of the former off-spinner, county coach and Club President.

The first Derbyshire Year Book, published in 1954 welcomed Edwin Smith thus: “Promising off-spin bowler. With more variation, could be in the first flights of bowlers of this type.”

He’d already played 33 first class games for Derbyshire before the welcome appeared in the Year Book and he would go on to play 497 first class matches for the county of his birth, fourth on the all-time list. He is one of only six players to appear in more than 500 all format games for Derbyshire.

Like many men at the time, Smith was exempted from National Service – although he had been expected to join the RAF – by virtue of his job as a colliery mechanic.

Edwin Smith was something of a sensation when he broke into the Derbyshire side and his career couldn’t have got off to a much better start, taking eight for 21 against Worcestershire at Chesterfield in 1951, in just his second appearance for the county. At this stage the 17 year-old Smith had yet to appear in the county second eleven and much was therefore expected of him.

When his playing career at first class level ended in 1971, Smith had taken 1,209 first class wickets – plus two in one day matches – the sixth most wickets by any Derbyshire bowler. Ahead of him are Les Jackson, Cliff Gladwin, Bill Bestwick, Tommy Mitchell and Derek Morgan putting Smith in rarefied territory.

But he nonetheless played a very influential role in an attack which at various times included Les and Brian Jackson, Cliff Gladwin, Harold Rhodes, Derek Morgan, Ian Buxton, Alan Ward, Mike Hendrick and other pace bowlers.

It is remarkable that he remained so effective for so long on the county’s pitches which, throughout his career, were generally prepared to suit seam and pace and 245 wickets at Chesterfield – nearly one hundred more than he took at Derby – confirms this.

As Derbyshire’s side settled down in the early 1950s, the players who had performed so well during the pre-war period had retired and a new breed had emerged. Similar in background, largely but not exclusively from the mining community and with the emphasis on strong, uncompromising pace bowlers but with the guile and quality of Smith, Derbyshire never managed to scale the dizzy heights of the mid-1930s with this team but did finish fourth, sixth, third and eighth in the Championship between 1952 and 1955 and between 1957 and 1962 no lower than seventh.

And although the faster bowlers claimed the honours on so many occasions, Smith took more than 50 first class wickets in a season 14 times, topping the Derbyshire charts with 87 in 1966, although his best year was in 1955 when he took 105 at an average of 17.65.

In six seasons between 1954 and 1959 he took 435 wickets and in seven seasons between 1964 and 1970 he took a further 509 wickets, a real measure of his consistency, fitness and skill.

Virtually ever-present in the Derbyshire side for two decades, he combined the duties of stock bowler in support of the much-lauded pacemen with that of match-winner when the conditions suited.

Fifty one times he took five wickets in an innings, ninth on the county all-time list, and ten in a match four times. His best innings figures were nine for 46 against Scotland at Edinburgh in 1955 and his best match figures were 14-112 in the same match.

He never made a century despite being a useful lower-order player, with 90 against Nottinghamshire at Ilkeston in 1962 being the closest he came and he made a further seven first class fifties.

As his playing career drew to a close there was a suggestion that he might replace Ian Buxton as captain in 1970 although Derek Morgan was the committee’s choice, but he was appointed as county coach, succeeding his namesake Denis, in 1972.

Capped in 1954 and awarded a benefit in 1966, Edwin Smith was appointed to the Umpire’s List for 1975 but decided against continuing his career in the first class game having secured an appointment with his former employers, the National Coal Board.

A regular visitor to Past Player events, Smith was elected Derbyshire President in 2018, and still enjoyed playing high quality snooker into his eighties.

That same year, Edwin was interviewed about his cricketing life – and more – as part of a Derbyshire Cricket Foundation project and the three interviews, each of which were around 20 minutes in length can be viewed by following the links below:

Edwin Smith was known to many as ‘Tat’, a nickname which he explained had been given to his brothers, their father and their grandfather, but which was apparently without derivation. As Smith himself said: “It’s not short for anything. No.”

Edwin Smith and his wife Jean spent their retirement in Grassmoor, a village three miles south of Chesterfield, where they both grew up. They had four children, Diane, Mark, Christopher and Fay.

A comprehensive account of Edwin Smith’s life and career appears in the Association of Cricket Statisticians Publication ‘Edwin Smith – A Life in Derbyshire Cricket’ written by Steve Dolman and published in 2015.

Everyone connected with Derbyshire County Cricket Club extends their condolences to Edwin’s family and friends.

Career Statistics – Derbyshire

First Class Matches: 497

Runs: 6,884 at 13.13

High Score: 90

Wickets: 1,209 at 25.79

5 Wickets in an Innings: 51 times

10 Wickets in a Match: Four times

Smith also played 8 List A matches for Derbyshire taking two wickets