Lives in Cricket No 30 - MJK Smith

53 last two matches, away to Essex and Sussex, meant that they had to be content with fourth place in the table, 20 points behind Yorkshire and two adrift of Gloucestershire and Sussex. The rise from sixteenth owed much to the development of Stewart as a fast-scoring batsman, to the work of Roly Thompson and Ossie Wheatley as opening bowlers, to the emergence of off spinner Bridge and to the first contributions with the ball from Cartwright, whose ability as an accurate net bowler had started to earn him recognition as a member of the championship attack. But, above all, it was Mike’s runs at an average of over 60 that so often gave his side the edge. Choosing him as one of its five Cricketers of the Year Wisden commented: ‘It is fair to say that no other county captain gave quite the same personal inspiration to his side.’ To his captaincy and batting Mike added 43 catches in all county matches, taking the Warwickshire record from Alan Townsend. Whereas Townsend had for many years been one of the best slip fielders in the land, Mike was invariably in front of the bat on the leg side: ‘I was prepared to field at forward short leg, which not everyone was. You can get hurt there, but if you’re worried about being hit, you’re not going to catch it anyway. Towards the end of my career I wasn’t so keen – I was starting to get a bit shell-shocked.’ In his early days Mike would reckon to move in on A golden summer Mike’s run-getting in 1959 earned him a Brylcreem Cup, presented here on the Sportsview television programme by Denis Compton, and later gained him recognition in Wisden and the Playfair annual.