Lives in Cricket No 40 - Edwin Smith

40 Being a professional I dropped it, while trying to protect my injured finger. It landed on his foot and broke his toe! Oh, we had some laughs about that... As coach, Denis Smith was gruff and abrasive, rarely short of a pithy comment when one was required. A would-be quick bowler, leaving the car park in a hurry with engine roaring after a trial ‘wouldn’t hit anything, if he drives like he bowls’. Another player, resplendent in a new suit and perhaps a little full of himself, was told ‘that old suit of mine has scrubbed up well’. The coach’s attitude came from graduating through a tough school himself. The Derbyshire side of the 1930s was as combative an eleven as ever took the field for the county. ‘No one wants molly-coddling, there’s no one to hold your hand in the middle,’ was a regular response to those who questioned his severity at times. He perhaps recalled occasions such as when George Pope, batting against Yorkshire’s testing attack of that pre- war period, swung hard at a delivery and sent it whistling past the head of Brian Sellers, the captain, fielding at forward short leg. ‘I say Pope, I think you tried to hit me there,’ he said, as the ball sped away. ‘You keep fielding there Mr Sellers. You’ll be in no doubt next time...’ came the reply. Smith was a shrewd coach, with sound, practical ideas, as remembered by Alan Hill, a fine opening batsman of later vintage for the county. Denis was gruff, but his bark was worse than his bite. He could be blunt, but he had played the game and knew all of its pitfalls. If you had a bad day he would empathise with you, as long as he could see that you were putting the effort in. He taught me things, long before the days of videos and statistical analysis and I still use them when I coach. If you study top professional cricketers, perhaps the most important thing is balance. When I wasn’t playing well, I started to fall over to the off side and got out lbw. He came up to me in the nets during such a trot and said, in his broad Derbyshire accent ‘Ey up ... when tha’ walks down street, what position is tha’ head in?’ I was baffled and showed him. ‘Exactly,’ he said. ‘Now try doin’ it with tha’ head to one side.’ I couldn’t and it showed perfectly and succinctly where I was going wrong. On and off the pitch, discipline was important and throughout the 1950s was ‘enforced’ by the senior professional, Cliff Gladwin. Young players were taken under his wing, but were expected to listen and learn, as Edwin explains. Cliff came off at the intervals and knew his analysis to the run. It was extraordinary. He would sit down and announce his work for the session ‘Twelve overs, five maidens, three for 17’ or similar. Then he’d