Denis Smith (24 January 1907 – 12 September 1979) was an English

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er who played for

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

between 1927 and 1952 and in two

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) ...

for

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 ...

in 1935. He scored more than 21,000 runs in first-class cricket. Smith was born in

Somercotes Somercotes is a village and civil parish in the district of Amber Valley in the English county of Derbyshire, close to the border with Nottinghamshire. It is a former mining village and was once surrounded by more than five pits. The village has ...

on 24 January 1907. He made his debut for Derbyshire in June 1927 against

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

, when he was out for a duck in the only innings he played and was given a chance to bowl just 10 balls. A tall left-handed opening batsman who played his strokes, and occasional right-arm medium pace bowler, Smith was the mainstay of Derbyshire's batting line-up during the 1930s, the most successful period in the county's history. Derbyshire came second in the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

in 1935 and won it in 1936. Smith played two

against the

South Africans The population of South Africa is about 58.8 million people of diverse origins, cultures, languages, and religions. The South African National Census of 2022 was the most recent census held; the next will be in 2032. In 2011, Statistics Sout ...

in 1935, and took part in the

Marylebone Cricket Club cricket team in Australia in 1935–36 An English cricket team, under the auspices of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), toured Australia from October to December 1935 before going to New Zealand for a three-month tour. It played first-class matches against each of the five mainland stat ...

(where no tests were played). and did well enough to be considered unlucky not to play more. Smith played regularly for Derbyshire until 1951, acting as

wicket-keeper The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being watchful of the batsman and ready to take a catch, stump the batsman out and run out a batsman when occasion arises. Th ...

in 1946 and 1947. In 1952 he became county coach. His career aggregate of runs and his 30 centuries for the county were both Derbyshire records until beaten by

Kim Barnett Kim John Barnett (born 17 July 1960) is a former English cricketer. Barnett was a batsman who played internationally for England between 1988 and 1989. He was primarily a batsman, but could also deploy effective leg spin, and topped the Engli ...

in the 1990s.Denis Smith at Cricket Archive
/ref> Smith was a

Wisden Cricketer of the Year The ''Wisden'' Cricketers of the Year are cricketers selected for the honour by the annual publication ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', based primarily on their "influence on the previous English season". The award began in 1889 with the naming ...

in 1936. Smith died in

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

at the age of 72.

References

* 1907 births 1979 deaths Derbyshire cricketers English cricketers England Test cricketers Wisden Cricketers of the Year Players cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers People from Somercotes English cricketers of 1919 to 1945 H. D. G. Leveson Gower's XI cricketers {{England-Test-cricket-bio-stub