Collie Smith
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 West Indies (WI) |
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| Batting style | Right-hand bat (RHB) | |
| Bowling type | Right-arm off-break (RO) | |
| Tests | First-class | |
| Matches | 26 | 70 |
| Runs scored | 1,331 | 4,031 |
| Batting average | 31.69 | 40.31 |
| 100s/50s | 4/6 | 10/20 |
| Top score | 168 | 169 |
| Balls bowled | 4431 | 9,423 |
| Wickets | 48 | 121 |
| Bowling average | 33.85 | 31.02 |
| 5 wickets in innings | 1 | 2 |
| 10 wickets in match | 0 | 0 |
| Best bowling | 5/90 | 5/63 |
| Catches/stumpings | 9 | 39 |
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Test debut: 5 February 1955 |
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O'Neil Gordon 'Collie' Smith (born 5 May 1933 in Kingston, Jamaica - died 9 September 1959 in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England) was a West Indian cricketer.
A hard hitting batsman and off spin bowler, Smith was rated highly in West Indies. He idolised Jim Laker for which reason he was nicknamed 'Jim' for a time. In his third first class match, he hit 169 for Jamaica against the touring Australians and was immediately included in the Test side. He started his Test career scoring 104 on debut against Australia. But after a 'pair' in the next match, he was dropped.
In England in 1957, he scored 161 and 168 in Test matches, once driving Brian Statham into the car park. Next year, he scored a hundred and took 5 wickets in an innings against India at Delhi.
[edit] The death
During 1958 and 1959 he played for Burnley in the Lancashire League where he set a league record of 306*. He had still not reached his prime when he died at the age of 26.
The accident happened while he was travelling with his West Indian team-mates Garry Sobers and Tom Dewdney. They were driving to London to attend a charity match the next day, Sobers being the driver. The trip had already been delayed because of the traffic. At around four in the morning, the car ran into a 10-ton cattle truck driven by a Mr. Andrew Saunders. The accident happened on A34 near Stone in Staffordshire.
The injuries seemed minor initially and Smith even told Sobers, in reference to Dewdney, 'Don't worry about me. Look after the big fellow'. Smith was sleeping in the back seat and had been thrown forward. It injured his spine badly and he soon went into a coma. Smith died without regaining his consciousness three days later. His body was taken to Jamaica where 60,000 people attended the funeral.
Smith has a biography named The Happy Warrior written by Ken Chaplin a year after his death. He had the nicknames Mighty Mouse and Wayside preacher because he liked reading the lesson in the church.
[edit] References
- Garry Sobers and Brian Scovell, Twenty years at the top
- Christopher Martin-Jenkins, The Complete Who's Who of Test Cricketers
