Lives in Cricket No 30 - MJK Smith

150 Chapter Seventeen Back to Broughton Astley Mike’s God-given talent has made sport central to his life, and so it remains in a retirement now punctuated by reunions – with other England caps at rugby internationals, with old Warwickshire team-mates at former players’ meetings and at Test matches, where he remains close to those at the heart of English cricket. And, for Mike, an unforgettable highlight of 2012 was when he and Neil were lucky enough to be in the Olympic Stadium on the night that Jessica Ennis, Greg Rutherford and Mo Farah gave British sport its most memorable day of modern times. Mike belongs to a generation where a sense of duty brings ready acceptance of invitations to address cricket societies or speak at dinners. Though he is not one of the circle promoted by their agents as stand-up comics, Mike can speak easily and fluently on a prepared topic or off the cuff. His passion for the game of cricket will shine through, as will his special brand of humour and his clearly articulated thoughts on the modern game. A man who has greeted royalty and enjoyed hospitality at the home of Sir Don Bradman will as happily meet and chat with ordinary sport-loving folk on their terms. No ordinary man, he still projects himself as the supremely ordinary bloke. With the chairmanship of Warwickshire behind him, Mike retains his involvement with cricket through his membership of MCC’s Youth Cricket sub-committee and, in 2007, he took on a new role in the game when he accepted with obvious pleasure an invitation to become President of the ACS. A fondness for the unusual statistics the game throws up perfectly qualifies him for a role in which he has presided at meetings with calm authority and a light touch. Always available for wise counsel, he played a crucial role in opening doors with all the counties for the Association to mount a recruitment drive. He was always going to be a hard act to follow, but ACS members were relieved to be presented with the ideal solution – Mike’s agreement to serve for a second five- year term. Living alone at Broughton Astley and widowed, Mike makes no