2nd not 1st: Essex 1899-1914 (6th ed)

Smyth, James (1892-1958) Born 13 June 1892, Peasenhall, Suffolk. Died 18 June 1958 Lisbon, Portugal. Played 1910. He was the son of Ralph Alexander Mac Smyth, drill manufacturer, and Emily Jane Peecock [sic], daughter of a retired farmer. Ralph died when James was only five but left Emily enough that she was able to live on her own means for the rest of her life. James Smyth attended Chigwell School from 1905 to 1910 when he left with a Lower Certificate. He was probably among the boys described by the headmaster at Speech Day as ‘of a type more likely to be distinguished in the cricket and football field than in the scholarship world. They would, however, make nonetheless capable citizens, and men who would make their influence.’ Smyth fell into that category. In 1911 he was a pupil chartered surveyor in Enville, Staffordshire. He was staying with George Chamberlain, a Fellow of the Surveyors’ Institution, and they were both working for a land agency. By 1922 he was a captain in the Indian Army, but I haven’t traced the intermediate stages. He was probably the Army man who travelled from Liverpool to Bombay in 1936, in which case he had been promoted to major and married a woman called Dorothy. Smyth was a fine schoolboy cricketer who played for the 1st XI aged only 14. In two victories against Brentwood School, he carried his bat for 61 and took four wickets in 1909, and scored 95 in 1910. The August of 1910 was mostly dull and cool but he enjoyed a glorious holiday before embarking on the world of work. In a drawn two-day, two-innings match for Public Schools against Essex Club & Ground, he scored 37 and 52, and had match figures of 9 for 106. HD Swan, later Essex chairman, selected Smyth for a match against XV of Public Schools at Leyton, and he scored 32. He played for the Young Amateurs of Essex in matches against the YAs of Middlesex and of Surrey. Against Surrey, he was the pick of the bowlers with 5 for 83 and the match report described him as a slow-medium left-armer. In his sole match for Essex 2nd XI, against Kent at Hythe, he took 2 for 99 opening the bowling but was bowled for 1. The British Newspaper Archive and Cricket Archive show that he continued to play cricket. While in Enville he turned out for the local club against Dudley College, opening the innings with 30. In 1913 top-scored with 29 in a heavy defeat for Old Chigwellians against Essex Club & Ground. Then, amazingly, he made his first-class debut aged 49. He captained a United Provinces [now Uttar Pradesh] Governor’s XI with Lala Amarnath against CK Nayadu’s XI that included Nayadu, Mushtaq Ali and DD Hindlekar. The selection as captain of a middle- aged English army officer over an international all-rounder seems like a last gasp of empire. The match was played for the United Provinces War Purposes Fund and resulted in a win for the Governor’s XI by 13 runs. Doubtless Smyth played other cricket that doesn’t show up in these sources. Batting and fielding record M I NO RUNS AVE 100s 50s CT ST Friendly 1 1 1 1.00 Bowling Balls M R W 5wI 10wM Friendly 120 2 99 2 Highest score: 1. Best bowling: 2-99.