Lives in Cricket No 40 - Edwin Smith

52 on the leg side. A few of us felt that in-swing bowlers like Cliff were being targeted in an attempt to ‘brighten up’ cricket. He had a lot of skill, however and he was affected less than some others who were less talented. The biggest victims were off spinners. Even on turning wickets, we were forced to have four fielders on the off side, which made no sense. You either dispensed with a backward short leg, or fine leg, meaning you missed out on wickets or conceded more runs, as you couldn’t have both. Grumbles aside, it was a fine season for the county, who were never lower than fifth in the table and were top in early June. Nevertheless, Donald Carr hinted at problems ahead in his review of the season in the club’s 1958 yearbook, highlighting that only Les Jackson and Edwin had emerged from local cricket since the war to become county regulars. The side was growing old. Besides the 41-year old Gladwin, Jackson was 36, Hamer 40, Dawkes 36, Kelly 35 and most of the others over 30. Only Edwin and Derek Morgan of the regulars had plenty of time on their side, although some of those named above would continue, with success, for several seasons. There had been opportunities for younger players, but none had cemented their potential and talent with sustained performance at first-class level. One such player, who made his senior debut in 1957 after first joining the ground staff in 1952, was Keith Mohan. At the mention of his name, Edwin laughs: Alan Revill gave us a few laughs over the years but perhaps the funniest of them all, often at the root of things that went on, was Keith. One time he was told to whiten the boots of all the players before a game and all the players left theirs outside the dressing room, including Reg Carter ,who also left a pair of black plimsolls there to air. Keith duly whitened them as well! Another time, he came across a small fire in the staff room at the County Ground and, thinking quickly, put it out with some water. He went and reported it to the club secretary, Will Taylor, thinking he’d maybe get commended, or even better, a few shillings for his trouble. He was mistaken. Will looked at him sternly and said ‘You silly so-and- so, you should have let the bugger burn. We’re fully insured.’ Then there was another day, when he was late for a first team game. We were supposed to be at the ground an hour before play, but Keith slept in and only got there half an hour before the start. His late arrival was mentioned later that night on television and in the next week or so he got seven alarm clocks sent to him by supporters in the post! Groundsman Walter Goodyear is another with vivid memories of the West Indian summer