M. J. K. Smith - England Captain

England Captain

Smith captained England in 25 of his 50 Test match appearances, yet in a period rich in batting talent he was rarely guaranteed a place. Uncertainty against fast bowling, particularly early in an innings, was exposed by a series of low scores in the mid 1960s, and Smith faced considerable press criticism, unusual for the time. But, Smith was known as a good tourist and was made captain of the England tour of India in 1963-64 when Ted Dexter and Colin Cowdrey were unavailable and without England's top bowlers Brian Statham and Fred Trueman. He lost the toss five times in a row and had so many injuries and illnesses that in the Second Test at Madras Smith had to use three batsmen, two wicket-keepers and six bowlers. When Mickey Stewart was unable to play after the first day because of dysentery he seriously considered calling up the cricket journalist Henry Blofeld, but managed to survive with just 10 men. Smith became the first England captain to draw all fives Tests in a series (it was the third time India had done this) and was considered to have done well to avoid defeat. It was his best series with 306 runs (51.00) and when Ted Dexter retired after losing 1-0 to Bobby Simpson’s Australia in 1964 Smith was made captain for England's last tour of South Africa before the Basil d'Oliveira Crisis. He won 1-0 against the talented Springboks, the last captain to defeat them in a Test series until 1996-97. It was also a personal success as he made he took four catches in the vital First Test and 10 in the series. He also made his third and last Test century, a top-score of 121 in England's 442 as they replied to South Africa's 501/7 in the Third Test, and made 257 runs (42.83). Wisden said, 'MCC have sent more powerful teams from Lord's than this one, but never one superior in terms of corporate effort on the playing pitch and harmony in the pavilion.'

Back in England in 1965, Smith beat a weak New Zealand 3-0, then lost 1-0 to South Africa, but was appointed captain for the MCC tour of Australia in 1965-66 with Cowdrey as vice-captain, despite support for the Kent captain at Lords. Although the press labelled the England team as the weakest to go to Australia, their entertaining cricket won them favour with the crowds. They also made their runs faster than any other England team since the war and for once England batted faster than Australia, a refreshing contrast to other Ashes series of the era. The tourists had had the best run of games of any MCC team since the war, beating Western Australia, South Australia and New South Wales, drawing with Queensland, when they needed two more wickets to win, and losing to Victoria by 32 runs after a run-chase. As a result the bookies reduced the odds of their winning the Ashes from 7/2 to evens. England survived the follow on to draw the First Test and made 558 in the Second, both drawn. At Sydney in the Third Test England rattled up 488 and won by an innings and 93 runs to give them a 1–0 lead in the series. It was Australia's biggest defeat at home for nearly 50 years, but the home team fought back to win the Fourth Test by an innings and retained the Ashes. Rain ruined play in New Zealand and the three Test series was drawn 0-0 despite the home team suffering at the hands of the England bowlers. On his return to England Smith was dropped after losing the First Test against the West Indies in 1966 by an innings. He was replaced by Cowdrey and retired at the end of the following season.