Lives in Cricket No 40 - Edwin Smith

10 Early days There had been an earlier cinema in the village, at the top of New Street, which was later turned into a billiard hall called The Drum. Here, when he reached the minimum age of 14 that was required for entry, the young Edwin spent many hours learning skills that would later turn him into a respected and feared amateur snooker player. Like the village’s other children, Edwin attended Grassmoor Primary School, before progressing to what was locally called ‘the big school’ when he was eight. His school education from 11, which like so many others ended at 15, was completed at North Wingfield School under the watching eye of the formidable Joseph ‘Joby’ Harris. Mr Harris was a ‘strict, but fair’ head teacher, according to Edwin and importantly for a sports-mad youngster was himself a very good cricketer. He played for Clay Cross, as well as for Grassmoor and is remembered as an important catalyst in a fledgling career. Cricket facilities were limited and games largely took place in the school yard, but Edwin remembers Mr Harris coming out at breaks to teach them rudimentary cricket techniques in favourable weather. The head teacher was at the helm of the school from the mid-1930s to his retirement in the 1960s, throughout that time providing strong leadership and even stronger discipline. A few may have resented this, but for the majority it ensured that their school days were undertaken in a safe and enjoyable environment. Many years later, while fielding at fine leg in a match between Derbyshire and Hampshire at Bournemouth in 1964, Edwin was tapped on the shoulder and turned to see his old head teacher for the first time in many years. A later chat revealed that he had retired to the south coast after the death of his wife to live with his daughter and her family. When asked about his favourite subjects at school, Edwin laughs. Cricket and football! I was never much of a student but we played cricket in the yard in the summer months and the rest of the time it was football. I played in the school team and was a right-winger who scored a few goals. I was quite quick and we did fairly well. One year we won the Chesterfield Schools Challenge Shield and there were some good players in that side. A couple of the lads went for trials with league clubs later, but there was more money in working down the pit in those days! Another, Ben Stoppard, became a good enough sprinter to run against and come a close second to McDonald Bailey. They raced against each other at Queens Park in Chesterfield, when there was a running track there. The Trinidad-born Bailey won a bronze medal in the Helsinki Olympic Games of 1952, having earlier finished sixth in the same 100 metres in the 1948 games in London. He was the outstanding sprinter of the generation and in 1951 equalled the then world record of 10.1 seconds. It had stood since 1936 and had been set by the legendary American sprinter Jesse Owens. That a young local lad was good enough to run such an athlete