The A-Z of Derbyshire Cricket - S is for Smith: Denis Smith

As with the 'R' category before it, the list of players whose surname began with the letter S is lengthy and most impressive.

The earliest was FR Spofforth, who spent three part-seasons with us between 1889 and 1891 when he had been one of the finest bowlers in the world for the previous ten to fifteen years. An Australian, he took 853 wickets at just under 15 in his career, but so few of them were in Derbyshire colours that he doesn't merit inclusion in the mix here.

The same could be said of two other players. Phil Sharpe was a fine batsman and outstanding slip fielder for Yorkshire over a number of seasons, before moving to us for the final two summers of his career. He still caught flies at slip, but Eddie Barlow's demands on fitness levels saw Sharpe retire after two years.

Similarly David Steele enjoyed three summers with us at the end of his career as an obdurate batsman and handy left-arm spinner. He produced some decent displays, but his greatest deeds were achieved in Northamptonshire colours and again he's not included in the top three here.

Other worthy cricketers have to be excluded too. David Smith, a stubborn and occasional explosive opening bat in the 1960's; Fred Swarbrook, a left-arm spinner of genuine talent and lower-order batsman who sold his wicket dearly; Keith Stevenson a decent seam bowler who could move it around, but had to move to Hampshire for regular cricket; Steve Stubbings, a popular and conscientious opening batsman, who always gave of his best.

There's also wicket-keeper batsman Luke Sutton, a fine player, especially in his first stint at the club, while Shahid Afridi flitted briefly across our firmament, but without the success that characterised most of his long and illustrious career. Going back in time, mention must also be made of Harry Storer, yet another obdurate batsman who went on to great success as a football manager at Coventry City and Derby County.

Yet the top three largely pick themselves. In third place is an off-spinner who would, if he played today, walk into the England team.

Edwin Smith took over 1200 wickets for Derbyshire, despite often playing on wickets that were prepared for Les Jackson, Cliff Gladwin, Harold Rhodes and Brian Jackson, not to mention Derek Morgan. To some extent he got the scraps that were left, but with the knowledge that he was expected to perform when conditions were in his favour. It was a peculiar kind of pressure, but he usually handled it well. He took five wickets in an innings on 51 occasions, ten in a match four times. He turned it enough, not excessively, and flighted the ball to keep batsmen guessing. When conditions were good for batting, his control of line and length kept it quiet; when it started to turn, he was always a handful.

He was a stubborn bat too, capable of holding an end up to secure an extra point, or a valuable first innings lead, while he was a safe and reliable fielder in most positions.

A fine player, yet not good enough to break the top two, because this is top quality company.

In second place is William Storer, a professional of exceptional talent on the variable wickets of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Uncle of Harry Storer, he gave wonderful service over an eighteen-year career, scoring 13,000 runs at the respectable, for that time, average of 28. He was a good enough leg-spinner to take 232 wickets at 33, while also a  very competent wicket-keeper who held nearly 400 catches and took over fifty stumpings. Now that's real, all-round talent! Good enough to play six Test matches, Storer was a player who helped to keep Derbyshire a solid side before the First World War, in stark contrast to the years that immediately followed it.

Yet first place simply has to go to a batsman who, on the good days that were many, was often compared to the great Kent left-hander, Frank Woolley. Denis Smith (second right in the back row in the above photo of the 1936 champions) was a tall, elegant left-hander who, until the advent of Kim Barnett, was the club's leading run-scorer. He tallied almost 22,000 runs over a career that ran from 1927 to 1952, although a number of seasons were lost to the war, that would otherwise have put him out of sight of anyone. From 1934 to the outbreak of war, his season aggregates were, successively, 1599, 2175, 1421, 1914, 1234 and 1597. Given that when he returned after the war he passed the thousand mark another four times, it is fair to say that his peak years and perhaps six to eight thousand runs were taken from him.

He usually opened the batting and the ethos of those highly successful years was for the batsmen to score runs quickly enough to give the bowlers time to win games. A career average of 32 probably doesn't reflect Smith's true value to the side as a batsman who invariably gave the side a sound but brisk start, often in the company of Albert Alderman. He earned two Test appearances and averaged a respectable 32, but his career was largely spent in Derbyshire colours.

I never saw him play, but descriptions suggest him as a left-handed Barnett, full of glorious shots through the covers but, like all left-handers, strong off his pads. His footwork wasn't the fastest, but you don't score the volume of runs that he managed through being slow.

When his career ended he became county coach, a post he held for many years. He was a hard task master who insisted on nets being taken in the proper manner, with a withering put down for anyone who he felt was getting above themselves.

"My old suit has cleaned up well" he said to one young player who was showing off his new threads, while a would-be fast bowler who drove off fast and loud in his car after nets was dismissed with the comment "if he drives like he bowls, he'll not hit owt..."  His hard attitude was explained as being because cricket was a hard game "and no one holds your hand out in the middle".

One of the game's characters and one of Derbyshire's finest.