Full Name

Neil Smith

Born

April 01, 1949, Ossett, Yorkshire

Died

March 03, 2003, Dewsbury, Yorkshire, England, (aged 53y 336d)

Batting Style

Right hand Bat

Fielding Position

Wicketkeeper

Neil Smith died of cancer on March 3, 2003, aged 53. Smith served a fouryear apprenticeship as Yorkshire's Second Eleven wicket-keeper and seemed the natural successor to the long-serving Jimmy Binks in 1970 but, after a shaky start, was usurped in mid-season by 18-year-old David Bairstow, who took his A-Levels at 7 a.m. so he could play. Bairstow established himself, and Smith moved to Essex to succeed Brian Taylor in 1973 and spent the next eight years as a stalwart of that famously perky dressing-room. Technically, many thought him a better gloveman than Bairstow, but he was on the large side, and irritated Graham Gooch by eating a lot and getting larger. This helped his often beefy batting, which had minimal backlift but considerable power: Essex occasionally used him as a pinchhitter long before the term was ever used. In 1981, he lost form and was again ousted in mid-season, this time by David East. Smith captained the second team for a season then went back north to go into business.
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack

Neil Smith Career Stats

Batting & Fielding

FormatMatInnsNORunsHSAve100s50sCtSt
FC18723953333612617.932839551
List A171107268516110.500212423

Bowling

FormatMatBallsRunsWktsBBIBBMAveEconSR4w5w10w
FC187000-----000
List A171000-----000

Debut/Last Matches of Neil Smith

FC Matches

Span
1970 - 1981

List A Matches

Span
1970 - 1989

Recent Matches of Neil Smith

MatchBatWktDateGroundFormat
Cheshire vs Hampshire00c/0s28-Jun-1989ChesterList A
Cheshire vs Derbyshire02c/0s06-Jul-1988ChesterList A
Cheshire vs Northants53c/0s22-Jun-1988ChesterList A
Essex vs Sussex--2c/0s25-May-1982HoveList A
Essex vs Kent80c/0s30-May-1981DartfordList A