Lives in Cricket No 40 - Edwin Smith

97 Match-winning captain be the difference between the two sides, playing a brilliant innings on an awkward wicket. Mike Page was impressed by Edwin’s captaincy in those matches. Edwin was quiet, undemonstrative. He knew the game inside out and, as you would expect from such an experienced bowler, set some canny fields. He didn’t over-bowl himself either, which is sometimes a temptation and I know that most of the players were quietly impressed by the way that he went about things. As the summer drew to a close, Alan Ward became established in the first team, replacing Brian Jackson as the opening partner for Harold Rhodes. He made a huge early impression, according to Edwin. He was like a firework exploding onto the county scene. In the last three matches he took 23 wickets and there were a few batsmen who didn’t fancy him at all. You must understand that at the end of the season, people were starting to think of what they would be doing through the winter. Then this lad appears and is as fast as anyone on the circuit, probably faster. He took ten wickets in the match at Cardiff, where it was lifting sharply at one end. Nobody played him with confidence and we were glad he was on our side. At that stage, he looked like an outstanding prospect.