An England great who was at his best against raw pace

Richard Jolly pays tribute to Robin Smith, who has died at 62

- Richard Jolly

Fine a bowler as Angus Fraser was, he probably wasn’t quick enough to get Robin Smith’s juices flowing.

But the former England cricketer, and Independent cricket correspondent, may have summed up his old teammate better than most. “There have been many players who have suggested they would rather face 90mph throat balls than gentle leg-breaks but Smith is the only one I truly believe,” said England’s most skilful bowler of the early 1990s.

Nor was there any false bravado from Smith when he said, in many an interview, that he felt no fear against the quickest of the quicks, especially as he would often caveat it by admitting he was afraid of Shane Warne, whose leg-breaks were not gentle, but were rather less likely to inflict physical damage. Smith’s demons could be mental, but there were few braver batters in cricketing history. Few finer, too, when the speed gun showed deliveries timed at something approaching 100mph. From Donald Bradman to Brian Lara, there have been suspicions that some of the greatest ever had a slight susceptibility to raw pace. Smith was that rarity: he was better against it.

Smith has died at just 62; he played 62 Tests, too, and each number seems too few. But he excelled in the tail end of an era where there were more genuinely fast bowlers than before or since. He was a cricketer for those times; his international career was curtailed by the failings of England coaches and by his own issues with spinners. But when the pace was cranked up and the ball was pitched short, Smith was among the best there has ever been. bouncy pitches. But the other abiding image of him adorns the cover of his autobiography, his body contorted into the shape of a C, feet off the ground, head jutting back, bat going in the other direction, to avoid another bouncer.