Mike Smith obituary: The last dual international to play rugby union and cricket for England
Mike Smith, who has died at 92, was the last of the dual internationals to play both rugby union and cricket for England – but it was cricket that gave ‘MJK’ the chance to live out an extraordinary life and career.
A solitary cap at outside centre, against Wales in 1956, was the height of his career with the oval ball – a fine achievement in itself but one that would pale by comparison to his long and distinguished journey through cricket.
He would go on to captain England in exactly half of his 50 Test appearances and score almost 40,000 first-class runs, compiled mostly during nearly two decades of stellar service to Warwickshire.
Smith’s influence at Edgbaston extended long past his own playing days, serving as county chairman between 1991 and 2003 and overseeing a period of unprecedented success that brought seven major trophies.
Born Michael John Knight Smith on June 30, 1933 and brought up in Hinckley, he was educated at Stamford School where he was mentored in each of his favoured sports by a teacher, Mr HE Packer.
A first-class cricket debut for Leicestershire followed, but he had just three matches to his name when two years of compulsory military service took him out of the representative game.
He went on to win a place at Oxford University, where his batsmanship quickly began to outstrip his academic efforts in the geography department.
By making centuries in each of his three Varsity matches he surpassed a run-scoring record held by none other than the Nawab of Pataudi since 1931.
Having intermittently represented Leicestershire throughout his student years, he left for Warwickshire, attracted by the club’s status as a Test match ground, and was appointed captain in 1957.
Over the next three seasons he churned out runs by the thousand, a recognisable presence at the crease with his distinctive spectacles and his unapologetic array of forceful leg-side strokes.
“Why bother to change your style as long as you’re scoring?” proved an enduring retort.
Miscast as an opener in his first three Tests, managing 57 runs in four innings, he returned a year later in the middle order and made the first of his three England hundreds, against India at Old Trafford.
Smith was never a certain pick but offered most when leading the side. The opportunity only presented itself thanks to the absence of Ted Dexter and Colin Cowdrey for the tour of India in 1963/64, where Smith managed a creditable draw with a depleted squad.
He would lead his country 25 times in all, always a popular appointee and one whose bravery in the short-leg position – long before the era of head protection and leg guards – earned the devotion of team-mates.
He experienced defeat on just three occasions, with 17 draws and five victories, including series wins over South Africa and New Zealand, as well as squaring an entertaining Ashes trip in 1965/66.
He took a hiatus from the game, during which he worked for building company DH Robbins, but returned in time for a three-Test swansong against Australia in 1972.
Following his retirement he presided over a country club outside Warwick, but cricket would come calling again.
He was an international match referee for five years, a happily uneventful spell by his own account, and was a beloved chairman back at Warwickshire between 1991 and 2003.
In that time the club claimed back-to-back county championships in 1994 and 1995, ending a 22-year drought, and became the pre-eminent force in limited-overs cricket, winning every one-day trophy twice.
Master batsman Brian Lara and fierce paceman Allan Donald wowed the members during that period, but it was the contribution of one Neil ‘NMK’ Smith, that gave him the most pride.
He followed his father in captaining the county and even earned one-day international honours for England.
Smith is survived by son Neil and daughter Carole, the former wife of World Athletics president Sebastian Coe.