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Test Cricket's 25 Greatest Smiths

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7 - Chuck Fleetwood Smith (Australia, 1935-1938)



Leslie O'Brien Fleetwood-Smith, who died in a Melbourne hospital on March 16, aged 60, played in 10 Test matches for Australia between 1935 and 1938, taking 42 wickets. A left-arm spin bowler who changed his style after breaking his right arm as a schoolboy, he often exploited the googly and the "chinaman" with effect. In all first-class cricket his record was 597 wickets, average 22.00. "Chuck", as he was known, first toured England in 1934 when he obtained 119 wickets - including three in four deliveries against Oxford University - for 18.06 runs apiece, but failed to gain a Test place against such formidable rivals as C.V. Grimmett and W.J. O'Reilly.

In 1936-37, however, after faring moderately in South Africa the previous year, he helped Australia to carry off the Ashes following the loss of the first two Tests, in which he did not play, to G.O. Allen's England team. Fleetwood-Smith did specially well in the fourth Test at Melbourne, his match analysis being 10 wickets for 239 runs. Again in England in 1938, he took part in four Tests and at Leeds earned match figures of 7 for 107, he and O'Reilly (10 for 122) bearing a major part in the victory which decided the rubber.

In the final match of the series at The Oval - his last Test appearance - however, he, in company with the other Australian bowlers, came in for a mauling. It was in that game that Leonard Hutton put together his record-breaking 364 and England won by the overwhelming margin of an innings and 579 runs. Fleetwood-Smith's analysis in a total of 903 was one wicket for 298 runs from 87 overs.

For Victoria, Fleetwood-Smith took 246 wickets for 24.56 runs each in 40 Sheffield Shield fixtures. Twice he enjoyed the distinction of dismissing nine batsmen in an innings - for 36 runs against Tasmania in 1932-33 and for 135 runs against South Australia five seasons later - at Melbourne in each case. He fell on hard times some years ago and was "living rough", but his friends rallied round him and latterly he was his old self again.

Wisden Cricketers' Almanack

Chuck Fleetwood-Smith | Cricket Players and Officials | ESPN Cricinfo
 

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6 Steven Smith (Australia, 2010 - present)





Steven Smith started his career as a promising legspinner and talented batsman, but over the last couple of years, the legspin has taken a definite back seat while his batting has blossomed. That was in ample evidence when he played against India in Mohali in 2013. It was his first Test match in more than two years, and he responded superbly to pressure, scoring 92 and handling the spinners competently to confirm his early potential.

Smith was earmarked as a special talent quite early in his career: by the age of 21 he was in Australia's Test, one-day and Twenty20 teams, picked on promise and quickly showing the composure of a seasoned professional. There were words of caution about his early elevation, but there was no hiding the excitement about a player who gives the ball air, hits it hard, catches it at will and seems unbothered by pressure.

Smith became an international player in 2009-10 after starring with New South Wales, striking four Sheffield Shield centuries and finishing the season with career-best figures of 7 for 64. After only 13 first-class games he was picked on a Test tour of New Zealand but didn't get to play. He had already been trialled in the T20 and ODI sides, impressing with his attitude, and was used more as a legspinner than a batsman. Figures of 2 for 78 in his first one-dayer against West Indies don't look great, but he convinced Ricky Ponting to keep the field up to build pressure. Not many 20-year-olds - Smith looks even younger - win arguments like that. He was part of the squad in Australia's journey to the World Twenty20 final and his opening Test series, against Pakistan in England, was encouraging. There were three wickets in the two games and a muscular 77 in the second innings at Leeds.

A promising start to his state career occurred in 2007-08, when he played his first games in the three domestic formats. In the Pura Cup he opened with 33 and began his FR Cup experience without batting, although he posted 35 in his second attempt. The biggest impact came in the Twenty20 tournament, where he finished the qualifying matches as the competition's joint-highest wicket-taker with nine at a remarkable average of 5.33. His 4 for 15 in the dying stages against a Queensland side chasing 122 helped New South Wales to victory and earned him the Man-of-the-Match award.

However, batting became his stronger suit as the years went along: in the 2012 season, he bowled only 57 overs in ten first-class matches, and seven in 11 List A games. With the bat, though, he averaged almost 42 in first-class games and more than 36 in List A. He was chosen in Australia's squad for the tour to India, and when he got a Test opportunity when four players were suspended, Smith made the most of his opportunity.

ESPNcricinfo staff

Steven Smith | Cricket Players and Officials | ESPN Cricinfo
 

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5 - Collie Smith (West Indies, 1955-1959)



O'Neill Gordon Smith, who died in hospital following injuries received in a motor-car accident, took part in 26 Test matches between 1955 and 1959, scoring 1,331 runs, including four centuries. His death came as a heavy blow to the West Indies, for much had been hoped from him against Peter May's MCC team last winter

Smith's interest in cricket began at the age of seven and, such was his rapid advance, he gained a place in the team at St. Alban's School, Jamaica, when nine and became captain inside three years. Later at Kingston College he progressed still further, but not till 1955 did he first appear for Jamaica. This was against the visiting Australians and he gave full evidence of his quality by playing an innings of 169, he and AP Binns putting on 277 for the sixth wicket. That performance earned him a place in the opening Test match and, by hitting 104 in the second innings, he joined the list of men who obtained a century on Test debut. His success in three other Tests in the series was limited - indeed, he was dismissed for 0 and 0 in the second - but, with characteristic cheerfulness, he did not allow setbacks to deter him and from 1956, when he toured New Zealand, his place in the team was firmly established.

He learned to curb his natural desire to hit at practically every ball, though he never lost his punishing powers, and in England in 1957 he took 161 in the Edgbaston Test, becoming the only batsman to register a century on first appearance against both Australia and England. In the third meeting with England at Trent Bridge he made his highest Test score, 168, doing much to rescue the West Indies from what had seemed a hopeless position. "Collie" Smith was also a useful off-break bowler, having turned from pace to spin after watching Jim Laker during the MCC tour of 1948. During the summers of 1958 and 1959 he achieved marked all-round success as professional to Burnley in the Lancashire League.

Wisden Cricketers' Almanack

Collie Smith | Cricket Players and Officials | ESPN Cricinfo
 

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4 - Mike Smith (England, 1958-1972)



Warwickshire team-mates of Mike Smith, who was universally known as "MJK", rated him the best county batsman, and the most straightforward and unselfish captain, of his time. His leadership qualities, which included fielding at forward short leg before helmets and shin-guards were in vogue, were possibly the biggest factor in his captaining England in half his 50 Tests, including successive tours of India, South Africa and Australia. Surprisingly, he was uninspired as manager in two tours in the 1990s. His great strength as a batsman was his pragmatism. He observed that that all bowlers except offspinners had most of their fielders on the off side, so considered it only sensible to aim to score most of his runs to leg, which he dubbed "The man's side". He was a quick judge of line and length (despite, or perhaps because of, wearing glasses), a six-footer of wiry strength, and the possessor of a strong right hand. He was able to fetch to midwicket balls that pitched a foot or more clear of the off stump, a gift that, allied to the sweep and pull, made him harder than most to bowl to. If the method wasn't all that easy on the eye, it was mighty effective in the county game: six times running (1957-62) he made 2000 runs in a season, most of them at a cracking pace. His son, Neil (NMK), played a handful of one-dayers for England and also captained Warwickshire
.
John Thicknesse

Mike Smith | Cricket Players and Officials | ESPN Cricinfo
 

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3 - Ian Smith ( New Zealand, 1980-92)



A compact and efficient wicketkeeper, and a dogged late-order batsman, Ian Smith succeeded Warren Lees in the New Zealand side in Australia in 1980-81 and aside from a prolonged absence through injury in 1981-82, was a regular for more than a decade thereafter. His finest hour came at Auckland in 1990-91 when, arriving at the crease with New Zealand on 131 for 7 against India, he cracked a remarkable 173 off 136 balls including 24 off one over from Atul Wassan. It was the highest score by a Test No. 9. In 1991-92 he held seven catches in an innings against Sri Lanka, retiring after the World Cup that same season. He moved effortlessly into the commentary box and now travels the world in that capacity.

Martin Williamson

Ian Smith | Cricket Players and Officials | ESPN Cricinfo
 
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2 - Robin Smith (England, 1988-96)



Fearless yet fragile, much-loved yet mucked about, Smith's England career was a curious catalogue of contradictions. At his best he hammered fast bowling with supersonic cuts and hooks and visibly enjoyed the regular snatches of chin music from the West Indian quicks. At worst those rigid forearms were a handicap against his Achilles heel of slow bowling, and when he thrust forward hopefully even part-time offspinners fancied their chances. Even so, when he was dropped after the 1995-96 series in South Africa, Smith possessed the highest average of any contemporary England player. It did give him more time to concentrate on his various business interests and captaining Hampshire, but the feeling persists that England could have got more out of him.

Lawrence Booth

Robin Smith | Cricket Players and Officials | ESPN Cricinfo
 

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1 - Graeme Smith





Meaty, muscular and mighty, that's Graeme Smith, who looms even larger than all that as South Africa's colossus of a captain. His achievements as a batsman are significant, but the most important monument to his career is the fact that under Smith, the confidence of South Africans, both within and outside of the national team and its structures, has been rebuilt.

Smith's leadership and his batting are all about being direct and upfront. The subtleties of captaincy have grown into his game, but he is still at his most comfortable surging once more unto the breach himself with a cursory backward glance to see if his men are following.

His batting is similarly forthright: anything bowled near his pads will be sent screaming through midwicket. Anything drivable on the off-side will be driven, brutally, often inelegantly, but always effectively. Square of jaw and shoulder, they don't call him "Biff" for nothing. With Smith, what you see really is what you get.

Smith can hardly be blamed for doing things his own way. He was, after all, handed the reins at 22 - which made him his country's youngest captain - and tasked with rebuilding South Africans' faith in the integrity of game itself. That precious jewel had been shattered by Hansie Cronje's immoral greed and it was not restored completely under Shaun Pollock's sincere but undemonstrative leadership.

If Pollock was too maturely minded a captain for South African sensibilities, Smith was spot on: an overgrown schoolyard bully of the nicest possible type who would just as soon take a (verbal) swing at an opponent as buy him a beer. After the game, of course.

The double centuries Smith scored in his 11th and 12th Tests, and just his third and fourth as captain, in England in 2003 made for an ironclad argument to retain his overtly direct approach to getting the job done. Those were his early days in charge, but arguably his greatest triumph came much later, when he led South Africa to their first Test series victory in Australia, in 2008-09. All that remains now is to get his hands on a chunk of ICC silverware, a prize that has eluded South Africa since 1998.

Telford Vice

Graeme Smith | Cricket Players and Officials | ESPN Cricinfo
 

benchmark00

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Nah disagree with Ian being in there. World class knob jockey.

What a great man Robin is though.
 

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In my method, consistently and length of a career counts a lot


Unless you have been knighted
 

NUFAN

Y no Afghanistan flag
I just loved the suspense of the whole thing and the shock to see Smith in sixth place.

Reading this thread is best served while listening to this IMO >>
 

Agent Nationaux

International Coach
17 - Ed Smith (England, 2004)



The 15th Smith to be selected for England, but the first to have written a book on baseball, Ed Smith demanded selection for the third Test against South Africa in 2003 thanks to his superb county form. A tall right-hander with a penchant for the drive, Smith picked up six centuries in as many matches for Kent, including a career-best 203 at Blackpool, to become the first batsman to pass 1000 runs for the season. It was a run of form that coincided with a severe downturn in England's fortunes following the resignation of Nasser Hussain, and if his surname was anything to go by, he was just the name to take on South Africa's prolific captain, Graeme Smith. Sure enough, Ed responded with a half-century in his maiden Test innings but managed just 23 runs in his next four outings and was dropped. In 2004 there were rumours that he had become alienated from the Kent dressing-room, and it was no surprise when he moved to Middlesex at the end of the summer. After two consistent seasons he made the natural progression to leadership as he was named captain for the 2007 season. A voracious reader and writer, he picked up a double-first in history despite devoting much of his time at Cambridge University to cricket, and opened for England Under-19s in three Tests against New Zealand in 1996. He broke his ankle in 2008, preventing him from captaining Middlesex for most of the season, and subsequently announced his retirement from first-class cricket in the winter.

Andrew Miller November 2008

Ed Smith | Cricket Players and Officials | ESPN Cricinfo
Looks a lot like Zac Goldsmith

Zac-Goldsmith-001.jpg
 

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