M.J.K.Smith: No Ordinary Man: No. 30 (Lives in Cricket)

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Note: The pair had their revenge in the final Test when Davidson dismissed Smith with the final ball of his Test career. Smith was caught at slip by — Simpson. p20, Ian Wooldridge, What have we here? The eccentric 'Pom', Benson and Hedges Test Series Official Book 1986–87 The Clashes for the Ashes, Playbill Sport Publication, 1986 You can read more about the formation and earlier years of the ACS, and about the individuals whose hugely-valued efforts set us on our current path, in Twenty-One Years of the ACS, by our late President, Richard Streeton. 27 February 2023

As previously announced, the 2020 AGM, postponed from 21 March, has been rescheduled for Saturday 10 October. It was pretty much an unwritten rule that the captain winning the toss would always insert the opposition in the NatWest final, the early start in September conditions aiding swing bowlers. So it was a little surprising when Gatting elected to bat first, although knowing the pitch very well, he assumed correctly that it would get slower and lower as the day progressed. Unfortunately, the strip did not allow for much expansiveness, Middlesex's total of 210/5 from their 60 overs at just 3.50 runs per over proving this. In 1956 he captained Oxford and conformed to what had become habit by scoring another century. No other player has performed this remarkable feat of three separate hundreds in the University match, 201 not out in 1954, 104 in 1955 and 117 in 1956. Moreover, Smith's aggregate, 477, for the three matches surpassed the previous best, 457, by the Nawab of Pataudi in 1929-31. All three of his University matches were drawn.He scored 39,832 first-class runs (at 41.84) in 637 matches, placing him 17th in the history of the game, sandwiched between Len Hutton and Wilfred Rhodes. He hit 69 centuries (with a best of 204) and 241 fifties. He was often out when batting for the team rather than himself – he generally scored his runs at a good pace. He made 2,000 runs in a season six times running from 1957-62. I was mainly an on-side player. That came naturally to me. Some said MJK has a limited range of strokes. But why bother to change the style as long as you're scoring?

Alan ‘AC’ Smith, donning those gauntlets behind stumps, had a brief discussion with Dennis Amiss before taking the pads off. Amiss took up the place behind stumps. Smith took the ball and sent down a maiden with his odd-looking action where he bowled off the wrong foot (think Mike Procter and Sohail Tanvir from later days). At the other end Ibadulla conceded 6. The score read 28 without loss. Of the 39,830 he finished with, probably 70 per cent were scored on the leg-side. This is not to say, though, that he was a poor off-side player. When he chose he could cover drive with the best, once he had come through the invariably painful process of playing himself in. Tactically he was inclined to be cautious, as England's captain anyway, and there is nothing unusual about that. He took over the England side in 1963, on a two-month tour to India, and was relieved of it after England had been heavily beaten by West Indies in the First Test of 1966.MJK Smith was born in 1930s. The 1930s were called the Great Depression (1929-1939). It was the worst economic downturn in the history of the industrialized world. Despite the Great Depression, Hollywood and popular film production flourished. Radio was the main source of entertainment, information, and political propaganda, and jazz, blues, gospel, and folk music, became immensely popular. Discover what happened on this day. There was further news of the planned 50th anniversary lunch, to be held at Grace Road, Leicester, on 14 October, and plans for the distribution of the late Tony Webb’s research papers. Smith handled the group efficiently, making sure the stars, some of whom were way superior to him in stature, were handled properly. It was not an easy ask. It is not clear whether being an amateur was a hindrance to this, but it certainly did not make things easier for him, more so given that a sizeable population of the men he had to lead were professionals. The teams moved to New Zealand, where England went up 1-0. Smith was drafted in for the second Test at Wellington, where Fred Trueman and Knight skittled out the hosts for 194. Ken Barrington scored a diligent 76 while four others crossed 30. At 265 for 8 England were in a strong position, but they had not yet batted New Zealand out of the Test.