Jim Smith (cricketer, born 1906)

For other people named Jim Smith, see Jim Smith (disambiguation).

Jim Smith

Smith in 1936
Personal information
Full name	Cedric Ivan James Smith
Born	(1906-08-25)25 August 1906 Corsham, Wiltshire
Died	8 February 1979(1979-02-08) (aged 72) Mellor, Lancashire
Batting	Right-handed
Bowling	Right-arm fast
Relations	William Smith (brother)
International information
National side	England
Test debut	8 January 1935 v West Indies
Last Test	24 July 1937 v New Zealand
Career statistics
Competition Tests First-class Matches 5 208 Runs scored 102 4,007 Batting average 10.19 14.67 100s/50s 0/0 1/15 Top score 27 101* Balls bowled 930 43,058 Wickets 15 845 Bowling average 26.19 19.25 5 wickets in innings 1 47 10 wickets in match 0 8 Best bowling 5/16 8/102 Catches/stumpings 1/– 98/–
Source: CricketArchive, 30 May 2010

Cedric Ivan James Smith (25 August 1906 – 8 February 1979) was an English cricketer who played in five Test matches for the England cricket team between 1935 and 1937.

Career

Known as "Big Jim", Smith joined the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) ground staff in 1926 and played for Wiltshire until 1933. He qualified for Middlesex in 1934 and took 172 wickets at 18.88 to finish 6th in the bowling averages in his debut season. He was selected for the 1934–35 MCC tour of the West Indies on the strength of this performance and played in every Test there. On debut, he took five wickets in the second innings in Bridgetown. He also appeared for England against New Zealand at Old Trafford in 1937. Smith only batted 10 times in Tests, but until his last innings he never batted in the same position in two successive innings. During his brief career he batted at numbers 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 (twice) and 10 (twice).

In 1935, Smith was elected one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year for his achievements in the 1934 season.

A six-foot four inch fast bowler, Smith's accuracy and appetite for hard work earned him 676 career wickets at 17.75 before the onset of World War II effectively ended his career.

Although primarily a fast bowler, Smith earned a reputation as a big-hitting tail-ender. In 1938, he scored a half-century in just 11 minutes against Gloucestershire at Bristol, the fastest genuine fifty on record. Previously, in 1935, he had scored 50 in 14 minutes against Kent while his sole first-class century, an unbeaten 101, was scored in 81 minutes, also against Kent. Another achievement was being credited by some with the biggest six in history, at Lord's in 1937, when he played a shot that cleared the Old Grandstand on the north side of the ground.

His older brother, William, also played first-class cricket.