Lives in Cricket No 40 - Edwin Smith

76 Bottom was entrusted with the final over. After the first two balls went for a single and bye respectively, Barnard was bowled by Edwin, who finished with 12.3-1-60-1. The second round tie was against Lancashire at Old Trafford and a weakened side, missing Lee, Carr, Morgan and Richardson struggled to 148 all out. Edwin’s 28, batting at six, helped a recovery from a poor start, but the total looked insufficient. While Jackson bowled his 12 overs for just 22 runs, Edwin bowled 15, conceding only 46 runs, as Lancashire eased to victory with 15 overs to spare. At the end of the summer the Derbyshire chairman, Robin Buckston, agreed with Denis Smith that Edwin should spend a fortnight in Essex over the winter. England all-rounder Trevor Bailey had a cricket school there and it was felt that it would be a beneficial move. Edwin takes up the story. I went down there and bowled for a couple of days while Trevor watched. We chatted about cricket and my approach to the game and then he told me that he couldn’t do anything for me! He said that I had just had one of those seasons that all players have at times. You’re not in especially bad form, but the ball just misses the stumps or the outstretched hand and your figures suffer accordingly. What I did do was spend time working on my batting, which had a very positive impact in 1964. There were disappointments for Edwin before the following summer. Skipper Charlie Lee retired to concentrate on his teaching career, leaving Edwin and Derek Morgan the last of the 1950s side. While not unexpected, Lee being 40, it left a void in the dressing room. Charlie was the first professional captain at Derbyshire since 1889 and he did a decent job with a much weaker team than those skippered by Guy Willatt and Donald Carr. He had an awful start at Derbyshire and played his first season with a broken leg that hadn’t healed properly. After that he became a solid batsman, although it would be hard to say that his opening partnerships with Ian Hall were exciting. Occasionally, perhaps just to show that he could, he would play a few shots, but Charlie valued his wicket and protected it fiercely. He was a fighter, a very good man to have on your side. He was a lovely man, with a great sense of humour. One time at Northampton, when it was a typically sandy wicket, prepared for their spin bowlers, he suggested that a sign should be erected, saying ‘Unfit for bathing’. Another frustration was the decision to engage Micky Allen from Northamptonshire, the latest in the line of slow left-armers who were