David T Smith – His Cricket Book World

Martin Chandler | 9:04am GMT 11 January 2026

Published: 2026
Pages: 82
Author: Down, Michael
Publisher: Boundary Books
Rating: 5 stars

I should say at the outset that this one would never have been a bestseller, but I am confident that rather more than the 22 collectors who will be able to do so will want to buy a copy. Sadly therefore there will inevitably be some who are disappointed particularly as, if they never see the book, they won’t know why it could only ever have been produced in an edition with that modest limitation.

Those who will want to invest will be the hardened bibliophiles amongst us, some of whom will be fortunate enough to have one or two of the eight publications that carry the name of David Smith (DTS to all who knew him well) on our shelves. He wasn’t a prolific writer by any means, but those areas that were of particular interest to him and which were not chronicled elsewhere are ones where he was keen to share the knowledge that he had gained.

My own interactions with DTS were brief indeed, and amounted to one telephone call and a couple of emails some years ago regarding my purchase of one of his books. He came across in that correspondence as being exactly how he is portrayed here, as a man it was a genuine pleasure to know, and I am left very much regretting that I did not contact him again.

As to who exactly DTS was the answer to that is a Financial Director, and a family man who was clearly devoted to his wife and three daughters. He also had a large circle of close friends, many from the world of cricket. One of those friends, Michael Down of Boundary Books, has penned this appreciation, with contributions from a few of David’s best friends including one man whose name will be familiar to anyone with an interest in cricket literature, Stephen Chalke.

Sadly DTS passed away in 2024 after an innings lasting 86 years and I have no doubt that all who knew him will appreciate the memories that are preserved in this beautifully produced and profusely illustrated book, and that those who never met him but are interested in books and bibliophiles will enjoy reading about him as well.

As to what the book includes there is a short and affectionate portrait of DTS’s life and his friendship with the author. This includes a summary of his cricketing interests but, as the sub-title suggests, the largest part of the book is taken up with a look at David’s own contributions to the game’s literature, and then a description of his own cricket collection.

The books themselves are fascinating and showcase DTS’s personal interests. He lived in Corsham in Wiltshire for many years, and the book of his that I was looking to source when I contacted him was a double biography of Corsham’s two Test cricketers. Neither are famous names. Sep Kinneir was a one Test wonder in the 1911/12 Ashes. A little better known, primarily for his reputation as a tail end batsman known as a smiter of enormous sixes rather than his main duty as an opening bowler, is ‘Big Jim’ Smith who was capped five times in the 1930s.

There is a book too on First Class cricketers from DTS’s alma mater, Christ’s College in Brecon, one on centuries on debut for Cambridge University (a feat accomplished by nephew Ed, later of Kent, Middlesex and England), a history of South Wales Cricket Club, a monograph on Anthony Benitez de Lugo (a Spaniard who in Victorian times wrote three rare books on Surrey cricket), and a book about First Class matches played by Wales.

David also wrote a biography of EK Brown, a personal friend and the pre-eminent cricket dealer of the 1960s and 1970s. His major contribution to the game’s future researchers is however his definitive study of Fred Lillywhite’s Guides, a publication that appeared annually between 1849 and 1866. Naturally there is a chapter dedicated to all these publications, and indeed a rather more modest one that concerns the master at Christ’s College who sowed the seeds in the young DTS of his lifelong love of cricket books.

And the final part of the book contains the section all bibliophiles will want to read, the description of the DTS collection. There are three pages of narrative on that subject, followed by eight pages of photographs of particular books, and another fifteen of David’s cricket room from various angles and of his memorabilia. To those of us who share DTS’s passion the images are a joy to behold.

For those interested in investing in this one, and who aren’t already receiving Boundary Books‘ e-alerts I would recommend you sign up now, as an e-alert will be released in the next few days containing more information regarding and photographs from David T Smith – His Cricket Book World, as well as an opportunity to purchase  the book and/or one or two outstanding items from the DTS collection.