Lives in Cricket No 40 - Edwin Smith

74 Chapter Thirteen Bottom The last conscripted men left the British armed forces in May 1963, something that was noted with interest by Edwin Smith as he prepared for another county season at his home in Ashgate. He had signed up with the RAF at 18, but his job as a mechanic at Grassmoor Colliery meant that he was not called up for service, the occupation being on the exempt list. Edwin’s status as a collier meant that he missed out on a potential tour in the 1950s, as he explains. I was told that I was in the frame for an England ‘B’ tour and of course the thought was very exciting, but Will Taylor, the Derbyshire secretary, told me that I couldn’t go. He explained that if I did, my exemption from military service would cease and I would then effectively be lost to the county for two years. The service period was extended in October 1950, due to Britain’s involvement in the Korean War. It was funny, whenever we played the RAF during that time, their captain. Alan Shirreff, used to come and ask me when I was going to join up and play with them. They had a strong side in the 1950s, with players like Peter Parfitt and Fred Trueman, but my work in the mines kept me out of their clutches, even though I missed out on a tour as a consequence. Cricketers, like all travellers, rejoiced in the introduction of more motorways, with the first sections of the M2, M4 and M6 opening during the year. The journeys to away games would still be long, but as the decade progressed it became appreciably easier and quicker. Once the action began, 1963 was a terrible summer for Derbyshire, who sank to bottom of the County Championship, with only two wins all summer. It was the first without Donald Carr, whose return in August for a few matches merely reinforced what was being missed. It was also the last for Les Jackson. The latter signed off with 69 Championship wickets, but was no longer able to run through sides as in his glory days. Once again injuries to other seam bowlers left him with a heavy workload and both Harold Rhodes and Derek Morgan missed a number of matches. A bonus was the emergence of Brian Jackson from the leagues, who quickly looked at home in the first-class game and became a fine bowler for several seasons. Edwin rated him highly.