Lives in Cricket No 30 - MJK Smith

123 Chapter Fifteen A final balance sheet How good a player was Mike? Only 17 men have exceeded his 39,832 first-class runs, just six of them starting their careers since the war: Boycott, Graveney, Gooch, Amiss, Cowdrey and Hick. A phenomenally consistent county player, Mike averaged only 31.63 in Tests against an overall first-class figure of 41.84. He offers no profound explanation, merely suggesting that it reflects playing at a higher level. A colleague in county cricket for a decade, Jim Stewart, reflects: ‘I’ve never played with a greater player than him.’ Warwickshire’s record books lend support: only Dennis Amiss and Willie Quaife have scored more runs for the county, and no fielder has held more than Mike’s 422 catches. The circuit abounds with bowlers who have suffered when Mike’s eye has been in, but a reputation as an uncertain starter has never been shaken off. ‘We used to reckon at Lancashire that he was vulnerable when he first came in,’ says Bob Barber. ‘He would struggle against Brian [Statham], and I wasn’t sure whether he was picking the ball up.’ Eleven ducks blight Mike’s Test figures and there were 75 in all first- class cricket. Yet the list of those who have exceeded this figure includes Graveney, Cowdrey, Close, Fletcher and Parks. Mike himself concedes a weakness against extreme pace, and it comes as no surprise that the bowlers who most often dismissed him were the two great England fast bowlers of his era, Brian Statham and Fred Trueman. He puts his vulnerability down to being not particularly well-balanced at the crease. ‘I was never a hooker,’ he explains, ‘being too committed to the front foot, certainly at the beginning of an innings, and this led me to fall over towards the off side too much. So I was particularly susceptible to the leg-stump yorker.’ Reflecting on changes in the modern game, he says: If I played today, I would definitely play differently because with helmets it’s not the end of the world now if you get hit on the head. I would set out to play the short ball differently. I wouldn’t be ducking, I’d be going sideways. And I would be better balanced.