Lives in Cricket No 40 - Edwin Smith

47 spin bowling’. There were six wickets for 52 runs as he bowled out Somerset on the last afternoon at Derby, but the damp, seam-friendly conditions meant he bowled only a wicketless 20 overs in the match against the Australians at Derby. The visitors won that match by 57 runs, largely thanks to two fine innings by Ian Craig and a fine last afternoon spell by Keith Miller. Edwin’s season was extended with two games for the MCC. The first, at Lord’s in May, saw him bowl only eight overs, but in the second, against Yorkshire at the Scarborough Festival, he took three wickets as his side was heavily beaten. After that game, he had to catch the midnight train to make an appearance for the North against the South at Torquay. Poor weather meant there was only play on the first day and neither Edwin, nor his county team mates Alan Revill and Cliff Gladwin, got onto the pitch. There was an interesting interlude as the players sat in the pavilion watching the rain, as he explains: ‘Jock’ Livingston was a mainstay of Northamptonshire’s side in the 1950s and scored thousands of runs for them, after initially moving from Australia to play in the leagues. He and George Tribe were the stars of a decent side, one that had been put together by recruits from other counties and from those who undertook a qualification period to play county cricket from overseas. He asked me for a word and said that Northamptonshire were interested in securing my services. Would I consider it? Their wickets usually favoured spin bowling and perhaps such conditions might have earned me more bowling and more wickets; maybe greater recognition from selectors. But I firmly believed then, and still do, that players should only be eligible for their county of birth. So I told Jock thanks, but I wasn’t interested – and that was the end of it. Even though single membership for the season could be purchased for £1 11s 6d, a sum that gave access to nets, members had a right to feel short-changed from a summer of horrid weather. Playing hours, when possible, were noon to 7pm on the first two days and 11.30am to 6pm or 6.30pm on the final day, after which hurried trips to railway stations were often required. Two such trips in 1956 saw treks from Chesterfield to Colchester, and Eastbourne to Derby. Arrival at their hotel, or their own bed, was often not until the early hours, in pre-motorway Britain; a tiring experience. It put a pressure on domestic life, as Edwin recalls. The players saw little of their families once the season got going. There were a few of the wives and girlfriends who were more heavily involved – Derek Morgan’s wife used to sell raffle tickets and the like – but most, including Jean, liked to keep a distance from it all. Seen, but not heard was the motto of the time, but the reality was that Ashes summer