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Full name Michael John Knight Smith
Born June 30, 1933, Westcotes, Leicester
Current age 75 years 53 days
Major teams England,Leicestershire,Oxford University,Warwickshire
Batting style Right-hand bat
Other Referee
Education Stamford School; Oxford University
Relations Son - NMK Smith
Batting and fielding averages
Mat
Inns
NO
Runs
HS
Ave
100
50
6s
Ct
St
Tests
50
78
6
2278
121
31.63
3
11
10
53
0
First-class
637
1091
139
39832
204
41.84
69
241
593
0
List A
140
130
17
3106
97*
27.48
0
15
40
0
Bowling averages
Mat
Inns
Balls
Runs
Wkts
BBI
BBM
Ave
Econ
SR
4w
5w
10
Tests
50
5
214
128
1
1/10
1/10
128.00
3.58
214.0
0
0
0
First-class
637
487
305
5
1/0
61.00
3.75
97.4
0
0
List A
140
2
8
0
-
-
-
24.00
-
0
0
0
Career statistics
Test debut
England v New Zealand at Birmingham, Jun 5-9, 1958 scorecard
Last Test
England v Australia at Nottingham, Jul 13-18, 1972 scorecard
Test statistics
First-class span
1951 - 1975
List A span
1964 - 1975
ICC match referee statistics
Test debut
Australia v India at Brisbane, Nov 29-Dec 2, 1991 scorecard
Last Test
South Africa v India at Cape Town, Jan 2-6, 1993 scorecard
Test matches
4
Test statistics
ODI debut
India v West Indies at Perth, Dec 6, 1991 scorecard
Last ODI
New Zealand v Pakistan at Sharjah, Nov 15, 1996 scorecard
ODI matches
17
ODI statistics
Profile
Warwickshire team-mates of Mike Smith, who was universally known as "MJK", rated him the best county batsman, and the most straightforward and unselfish captain, of his time. His leadership qualities, which included fielding at forward short leg before helmets and shin-guards were in vogue, were possibly the biggest factor in his captaining England in half his 50 Tests, including successive tours of India, South Africa and Australia. Surprisingly, he was uninspired as manager in two tours in the 1990s. His great strength as a batsman was his pragmatism. He observed that that all bowlers except offspinners had most of their fielders on the off side, so considered it only sensible to aim to score most of his runs to leg, which he dubbed "The man's side". He was a quick judge of line and length (despite, or perhaps because of, wearing glasses), a six-footer of wiry strength, and the possessor of a strong right hand. He was able to fetch to midwicket balls that pitched a foot or more clear of the off stump, a gift that, allied to the sweep and pull, made him harder than most to bowl to. If the method wasn't all that easy on the eye, it was mighty effective in the county game: six times running (1957-62) he made 2000 runs in a season, most of them at a cracking pace. His son, Neil (NMK), played a handful of one-dayers for England and also captained Warwickshire. John Thicknesse
