Lives in Cricket No 40 - Edwin Smith

115 An impossible task to expect him to rediscover former glories and the move was another doomed to failure. Young players continued to show promise in 1973, but the batting was erratic. Only Mike Page, who did so without scoring a century, and Brian Bolus passed a thousand runs, the others being some way off. While Hendrick matured quickly and led the attack well, he had little support, Alan Ward bowling only 100 overs during the summer. Venkat and Swarbrook formed a good spin combination, but they rarely had runs to bowl at and it proved a tough season. Only five John Player League matches were won, while the only Benson and Hedges Cup win was against the Minor Counties. It could have been much better had Ward and Hendrick been able to bowl together. Alan was 25 and had only bowled 200 overs in two seasons. There was always something wrong with the lad, but I thought back to people like Les, Cliff and Harold, all of them willing to bowl even when they weren’t fully fit. Alan wasn’t. We had a few differences, some of it down to his attitude as he recovered from injury, but I actually felt sorry for him. In five years he had gone from being the most talked about bowler in the country, to nowhere. At the end of 1973, I wasn’t sure where his career was going, to be honest. Things had come to a head in June of that year, when Ward had been sent off the field by Brian Bolus, for refusing to bowl against Yorkshire. ‘When Brian asked me to bowl, something exploded inside me. I couldn’t go on .... I just wanted to get off the pitch,’ said the player afterwards. He had taken the early wicket of Geoff Boycott, but John Hampshire, having been in discomfort against him before lunch, hit him for 31 from his next three overs and out of the attack. After tea, when Bolus asked him to return at the pavilion end, he told him that he was unable to do so, having lost confidence after problems with his run up. After his captain left the field for discussions with the Derbyshire secretary, Major Douglas Carr, Bolus returned and made a dismissive gesture, the player walking off and leaving the ground before the close of play. The following day he apologised, but two days later announced his retirement from first-class cricket, his contract being cancelled by mutual consent. It all came as a shock to Edwin. I don’t really know what happened. I was away with the second team and only heard about it later that evening. I think that everything just got on top of Alan. Maybe it could have been handled better and things do happen in the heat of the moment, but the bottom line is that you just don’t refuse to bowl in a match. You get on with it and do your best. To his credit, Ward returned and was back to something like his best in 1974, taking 56 wickets at just under 21 runs each. Hendrick was above