| Ray Watson-Smith | |
| Country: | South Africa |
| Fullname: | Raymond Watson-Smith |
| Birth Date: | 20 February 1940 |
| Birth Place: | Mowbray, Cape Town, Cape Province, South Africa |
| Batting: | Right-handed |
| Bowling: | Right-arm medium-pace |
| Club1: | Border |
| Year1: | 1969–70 |
| Columns: | 2 |
| Column1: | FC |
| Matches1: | 5 |
| Runs1: | 444 |
| Bat Avg1: | 88.80 |
| 100S/50S1: | 2/1 |
| Top Score1: | 183 |
| Deliveries1: | 12 |
| Wickets1: | 0 |
| Bowl Avg1: | – |
| Fivefor1: | – |
| Tenfor1: | – |
| Best Bowling1: | – |
| Catches/Stumpings1: | 4/– |
| Column2: | List A |
| Matches2: | 1 |
| Runs2: | 47 |
| Bat Avg2: | 47.00 |
| 100S/50S2: | 0/0 |
| Top Score2: | 47 |
| Deliveries2: | 0 |
| Wickets2: | – |
| Bowl Avg2: | – |
| Fivefor2: | – |
| Tenfor2: | – |
| Best Bowling2: | – |
| Catches/Stumpings2: | 3/– |
| Date: | 9 July 2016 |
| Source: | https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/14/14843/14843.html CricketArchive |
Raymond Watson-Smith (born 20 February 1940) is a former South African cricketer. Playing for Border in 1969–70, he scored a not-out century in each of his first two first-class matches, and reached 310 runs before being dismissed.
Ray Watson-Smith made his first-class debut for Border against Orange Free State in November 1969 in the B Section of the Currie Cup. In a drawn match in Bloemfontein, in which 1258 runs were scored in three days for the loss of only 17 wickets, Watson-Smith, batting at number seven, scored 183 not out, the highest of five centuries in the match.[1] In the next match, against Griqualand West in East London two weeks later, he batted at number six and made 125 not out in 145 minutes. Border won by an innings.[2] He was finally dismissed for the first time in the next match against Natal B, when he made 2 and 19, and Border lost by an innings.[3] In the fourth and last match of the Currie Cup season he made 25 and 53 not out in a draw with North Eastern Transvaal.[4]
He finished the Currie Cup season at the top of the competition's batting averages, with 407 runs at an average of 135.66.[5] He then played for Border against the Australians, scoring 28 and 9.[6] At the end of the season he played one match in South Africa's first List A cricket tournament, top-scoring with 47 in a losing Border team.[7]
His captain at Border, Gordon Minkley, said Watson-Smith was a talented player but "He hit a lot of balls in the air and I think the word quickly got around among the other teams." Watson-Smith moved away from Border after the 1969–70 season and played no further first-class cricket.[8]
Watson-Smith's 310 career runs before being dismissed remained a world record until 2015, when the Victorian batsman Travis Dean made 347 runs before being dismissed. Dean was dismissed in his second first-class match.[9]