Frederick William Smith (31 March 1861 – 17 April 1914) was a South African

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 in three

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) ...

from 1889 to 1896. Fred Smith was the second child and eldest son of the six children of John and Primrose Smith, who were farmers. In 1871 the family moved to Bloemfontein, where John worked as a clerk. Fred married Maria Campbell in May 1888. Smith captained both Kimberley and Transvaal and was instrumental in the formation of the Transvaal Cricket Union. He also won many trophies as a sprinter. He was a quick-scoring batsman and a

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 ...

, as well as an occasional bowler. He was a successful batsman for Kimberley in minor cricket in the late 1880s, and was selected to play in

South Africa's South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

first Test, against

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 1888–89.

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* 1861 births 1914 deaths South Africa Test cricketers South African cricketers Gauteng cricketers Wicket-keepers People from Uitenhage Cricketers from the Eastern Cape {{SouthAfrica-cricket-bio-1860s-stub