William Joseph Smyth
AO (8 July 1916 – 16 September 2007) was an Australian
Test cricket
Test cricket is a form of first-class cricket played at international level between teams representing full member countries of the International Cricket Council (ICC). A match consists of four innings (two per team) and is scheduled to last fo ...
umpire
An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection.
The term derives from the Old French nonper, ''non'', "not" and ''per'', ...
.
Life and career
Smyth born at
Maryborough, Victoria
Maryborough () is a town in Victoria, Australia, on the Pyrenees Highway, north of Ballarat and northwest of Melbourne, in the Shire of Central Goldfields. At the 2016 census, it had a population of 7,921.
History
The area was originally ...
. He took up umpiring in 1947 when injury ended his fast bowling career, and umpired four
Test matches Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to:
* Test cricket
* Test match (indoor cricket)
* Test match (rugby union)
* Test match (rugby league)
* Test match (association football)
...
between 1962 and 1966.
His first Test match was between
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
and
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
at
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
on 29 December 1962 to 3 January 1963, won by England by 7 wickets. Smyth's partner in this match was
Colin Egar
Colin John "Col" Egar (30 March 1928 – 4 September 2008) was an Australian Test cricket umpire.
Born in Malvern, South Australia, Egar umpired 29 Test matches between 1960 and 1969.
First-class debut
Egar started his career as an um ...
.
Smyth stood (again with Egar) in the first Test match played by
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
in Australia, at Melbourne on 4 December to 8 December 1964, a match drawn when Australia required only 78 further runs with 8 wickets in hand. This was
Ian Chappell
Ian Michael Chappell (born 26 September 1943) is a former cricketer who played for South Australia and Australia. He captained Australia between 1971 and 1975 before taking a central role in the breakaway World Series Cricket organisation. Born ...
's debut match.
Smyth's last Test match, also against England at Melbourne with Egar as his colleague, took place exactly three years after his first, on 30 December 1965 to 4 January 1966, resulting in a draw. He continued to umpire at
first-class level until 1972. In all he umpired 59 first-class matches between 1956 and 1972, all but one of them in Melbourne.
On retirement, Smyth became a long-term President of the
Victorian Cricket Association
Cricket Victoria (CV) is the governing body for the sport of cricket in the Australian state of Victoria. It was formed on 29 September 1875 as the Victorian Cricket Association. It is integrated with the Victorian Women's Cricket Association to ...
Umpires' Association, adviser to the panel of VCA umpires, and lecturer on the Laws of Cricket, providing precise explanations of the complex code. He was awarded the Order of Australia in 2002 for his services to cricket.
Smyth died in Melbourne at the age of 91. At the time he was the oldest living Test match umpire.
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See also
*Australian Test Cricket Umpires
Australian(s) may refer to:
Australia
* Australia, a country
* Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia
** European Australians
** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists
** Aboriginal Aus ...
*List of test umpires
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby union ...
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smyth, Bill
1916 births
2007 deaths
Australian Test cricket umpires
People from Maryborough, Victoria