Lives in Cricket No 40 - Edwin Smith

16 The young cricketer He had played a few times before the war and was nearly 30 when the county game began again in 1946. For the next seven seasons, until 1952, he proved himself a bowler capable of golden spells that could quickly change matches. Though taking his wickets more expensively than Tommy Mitchell, Rhodes gave an option when the revered seam attack of Cliff Gladwin and Les Jackson didn’t have success. On five occasions he took a hat-trick, although, in common with many of his kind, he could lose line and length on occasion and prove costly in an attack that had otherwise a justified reputation for parsimony. Rhodes could bat too, but was another whose health and fitness often didn’t allow him to fulfil the difficult role of genuine all-rounder to full potential. His best summers with the bat were when his bowling was less of a force and vice versa. By 1951 it was clear that his best days were behind him and that a successor was required. Which was how, on 6 June 1951, the 17-year old Edwin Smith made his debut for the county, in a game against Hampshire at Queens Park, Chesterfield. It was to become his favourite ground, as it was for many other players on the circuit. There was much to like in the quaint, small ground in the park. First used by the county in 1898, the Victorian pavilion and rustic scoreboard looked out over a delightful setting. A boating lake at the far end of the ground proved a target for big-hitting batsmen over the years, while musical accompaniment sometimes came from a brass ensemble in the bandstand. With small boundaries and an outfield that could be fast after a dry spell, Queens Park has usually been a quick-scoring ground, one that could adversely affect the analysis of any bowler without good control of line and length. Had Edwin seen much cricket at Chesterfield? After all, it wasn’t far from his home. Actually, I was more of a football fan. I had been to see Chesterfield several times at Saltergate and there were often crowds of around 20,000, that were at that time supervised and monitored by only two policemen! I only saw Derbyshire play once before I was in the side. That was in 1946 at Chesterfield against India and I remember seeing Bill Copson open the bowling from the pavilion end. The first ball was so fast I never saw it, then the next was driven back to the pavilion for four by the batsman. I was never a cricket watcher. I always enjoyed playing far more than watching and I spent a lot of time that day just walking around the ground. After that I had a job selling ice cream outside Queens Park and I was doing that on the day that George Pope nearly beat Yorkshire on his own in one day.