Lives in Cricket No 40 - Edwin Smith

37 Chapter Six Being a professional The lot of the professional cricketer in the 1950s was substantially different to that of their modern day counterparts. Go to any first-class cricket ground today and you will see an array of impressive cars, some of them sponsored, a number with personalised plates and all of them a reflection of the trappings of success. County cricketers may not be as well paid as footballers, but many would envy the lifestyle. It was not always so. Take getting to the ground, simply for a home game, as Edwin explains. I used to have to get a bus from Grassmoor to Chesterfield at 7.40am and then get the so-called ‘pigeon train’ to Derby. It stopped at Clay Cross, Belper, Ambergate and Duffield and it was really slow. It got me to Derby around 9.40am and then I had to get a bus outside the station into Derby town centre and then another that took me to Nottingham Road and the cricket ground. If it all went to plan I would get there around 10.15am. Of course, at the end of the day, you had to do it all again, in reverse. Les Jackson got a car in 1956 and then Cliff Gladwin got one and they used to give me lifts, which saved a lot of time. I had a Lambretta scooter for a while, but it wasn’t easy, and probably not very safe, travelling on that with my cricket gear! When Edwin joined the Derbyshire staff, no equipment was provided. Once capped, the club provided his blazer and sweaters in club colours, but prior to that he wore a cricket sweater knitted by Jean, his girlfriend and eventual wife. He bought his own boots, pads and batting gloves, but got a free bat from Gunn and Moore, as long as he purchased one. All the players were the same. Those lucky enough to play for more affluent counties and gain international recognition perhaps did better, but sponsorship for most players was some way in the future. Later, the players benefited from one of Cliff Gladwin’s many contacts. He arranged for cricket trousers to be made by Jack Berry, a mill-owner friend in Bradford, from a gabardine material, ‘far better than the ordinary cricket trousers of the time’ according to Edwin. Cliff later called on the same friend for the material for Jean’s wedding dress, in 1956. We were lucky enough to do what thousands of others would have wanted to do. There were plenty of people back in Grassmoor who would have willingly traded places with me, being able to play cricket