Irving Smith (cricketer) explained

Irving Wilmot Smith (5 February 1884 – 21 October 1971) was an English cricketer who played first-class cricket in a single match for Warwickshire in 1905.[1] He was born in Harborne, Birmingham, and died in Sutton Coldfield, Warwickshire.

Smith was educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham, where he played in the cricket eleven as a middle-order right-handed batsman and a right-arm medium-pace bowler who could also bowl leg breaks.[1] His single first-class match was the game between Warwickshire and Yorkshire in May 1905, a run-heavy game that petered out to a dull draw; he made one run in his only innings and bowled nine overs, conceding only 13 runs but failing to take a wicket.[2] A contemporary report of the match refers to him as "the Harborne colt" and singles him out from the Warwickshire bowlers for his control: "A bowler who seemed less easy to score from than any one else on the home side was Mr. Irving W. Smith ... who, bowling with breaks from leg, kept a consistently good length."[3] Smith was not, however, selected for any further county games.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Irving Smith . www.cricketarchive.com . 14 November 2015.
  2. Web site: Scorecard: Warwickshire v Yorkshire . 25 May 1905 . www.cricketarchive.com . 22 November 2015.
  3. News: Cricket: Yorkshire v Warwickshire . Yorkshire Post/British Newspaper Archive . 11 . Leeds . 27 May 1905.