Gerald Arthur Smithson (1 November 1926 – 6 September 1970) 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 in two

Tests Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

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 1947–48. He was born at Spofforth,

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...

and died at Abingdon,

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

Life and career

Smithson was a left-handed middle-order batsman, a medium pace bowler and a highly agile and effective fielder of the ball. He graduated from the

Bradford Cricket League The Bradford Premier League (currently known as the Gordon Rigg Bradford Premier League for sponsorship reasons) is an amateur cricket competition centred in Bradford, West Yorkshire. It has been described as "arguably England's strongest amate ...

to play

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

for

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

between 1946 and 1950, making his first-class debut on 10–11 July 1946 aged 19 in a match against

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

at St George's Road, Harrogate, taking a catch and scoring 16 runs in Yorkshire's six-wicket victory. His highest innings for Yorkshire was his 169 runs playing at No. 3 against

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

at Grace Road,

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

in August 1947. Smithson played for Leicestershire between 1951 and 1956, and then for

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

in Minor Counties cricket between 1957 and 1962. Smithson's 98 for Yorkshire in the Roses Match of 1947 against Lancashire when he was aged 20 has been described in the writings of broadcaster and journalist Michael Parkinson (''Parkinson's Lore'', London: Pavilion, 1981). According to the then Yorkshire

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Norman Yardley Norman Walter Dransfield Yardley (19 March 1915 – 3 October 1989) was an English cricketer who played for Cambridge University, Yorkshire County Cricket Club and England, as a right-handed batsman and occasional bowler. An amateur, he ca ...

, his batting invited comparison with the young Australians of the time. Cricket historian

Alan Hill (author) Alan Hill (1928 – 5 February 2021) was a prominent biographer of cricketers. Career Hill grew up in Yorkshire, and worked as a journalist, first in Yorkshire, then in London, where he joined Hayter's Sports Agency. He won The Cricket Society/M ...

wrote that this particular innings "aroused hopes of an exciting future" and compared the style of the later England left-hander David Gower to that of Smithson. Conscripted into National Service as a Bevin Boy in the coal mines during World War II, he worked for three years at Askern Main Colliery in South Yorkshire, before receiving special permission (after his case had been debated in the House of Commons) for temporary release so that he could join the tour to the West Indies with the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) team of 1947–48. Smithson took part in two Test matches in the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados and the Queen's Park Oval in

Port of Spain Port of Spain (Spanish: ''Puerto España''), officially the City of Port of Spain (also stylized Port-of-Spain), is the capital of Trinidad and Tobago and the third largest municipality, after Chaguanas and San Fernando. The city has a municip ...

, Trinidad – where the West Indies trio of Frank Worrell, Clyde Walcott and Everton Weekes first appeared together. He was not successful in the first game, but made 35 in each innings of the 2nd Test, and his durability at the wicket helped to save the match for England. He was then injured on the tour, and did not play for Yorkshire in 1948. In 1949, Smithson was part of

's side that won the County Championship, sharing the title with Middlesex. His last recorded appearance for Yorkshire was a match against Scotland at Edinburgh in July 1950. In 1951 he joined

Leicestershire County Cricket Club Leicestershire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Leicestershire. It has also been representative of the count ...

, with whom he remained until the close of the 1956 season. His best season there was in 1952, when he hit 1,264 runs, (including two centuries) averaging 28.08. His last first-class match was for Leicestershire against Northamptonshire at the County Ground,

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

, in August 1956. After his full-time professional playing career ended, Smithson served as a professional cricket coach and groundsman, first at

Caterham School (Truth without Fear) , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day and boarding school , religious_affiliation = Protestant (United Reformed Church) , president = , head_label = Headmaste ...

, Surrey, and then at

Abingdon School Abingdon School is a day and boarding independent school for boys in Abingdon-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England. The twentieth oldest independent British school, it celebrated its 750th anniversary in 2006. The school was described as "highly ...

, Oxfordshire, and played Minor Counties cricket for

Hertfordshire County Cricket Club Hertfordshire County Cricket Club is one of twenty minor county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Hertfordshire. The team is currently a member of the Minor Counties Champio ...

. The Gerald Smithson Memorial Twenty20 Cricket Tournament was inaugurated at Abingdon School on 21 June 2009, with former England cricketer

Devon Malcolm Devon Eugene Malcolm (born 22 February 1963) is a former English cricketer. Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Malcolm played in 40 Test matches and 30 One Day Internationals for the England cricket team. At his best, he was the unquestionably the fast ...

as the guest of honour. A photograph of Smithson wearing his pit clothes appeared in '' Wisden'' in 1948 on page 38. He married Anne Salter at St Peter's Church, Earley, Berkshire, in 1954. Together they had four daughters; Jacqueline (born 1956), Gillian (1958), Joanne (1964) and Justine (1966). Gerald Smithson died suddenly in Abingdon, Oxfordshire in September 1970, at the age of 43, as a result of a coronary. At the time of his death, Abingdon was in

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smithson, Gerald 1926 births 1970 deaths England Test cricketers English cricketers Leicestershire cricketers Yorkshire cricketers People from Spofforth, North Yorkshire Bevin Boys Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Sportspeople from Yorkshire Hertfordshire cricketers Staff of Abingdon School