| Personal information | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Gerald Arthur Smithson | |||
| Born | 1 November 1926 Spofforth, North Yorkshire, England |
|||
| Died | 6 September 1970 (aged 43) Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England |
|||
| Batting style | Left-hand bat | |||
| Bowling style | Right-arm medium | |||
| International information | ||||
| National side | English | |||
| Career statistics | ||||
| Competition | Tests | First-class | ||
| Matches | 2 | 200 | ||
| Runs scored | 70 | 6,940 | ||
| Batting average | 23.33 | 22.67 | ||
| 100s/50s | –/– | 8/31 | ||
| Top score | 35 | 169 | ||
| Balls bowled | – | 94 | ||
| Wickets | – | 1 | ||
| Bowling average | – | 117.00 | ||
| 5 wickets in innings | – | – | ||
| 10 wickets in match | – | – | ||
| Best bowling | – | 1/26 | ||
| Catches/stumpings | –/– | 131/– | ||
| Source: [1], | ||||
Gerald Arthur Smithson (1 November 1926 – 6 September 1970)[1] was an English cricketer, who played for Yorkshire between 1946 and 1949, his highest innings for the county being 169 against Leicestershire at Grace Road, Leicester in 1947. He represented England on the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) tour of the West Indies in 1947-48.[1] Smithson later played for Leicestershire between 1951 and 1956, and assisted Hertfordshire between 1957 and 1962.[2]
Smithson was born in Spofforth, North Yorkshire.[2]
Perhaps Smithson's most famous innings was the 98 he scored for Yorkshire in the Roses Match of 1947 against Lancashire when he was aged 20, and which has been described in the writings of broadcaster and journalist Michael Parkinson (Parkinson's Lore, London: Pavilion, 1981). According to the then Yorkshire captain, Norman Yardley, his batting invited comparison with the young Australians of the time. Historian Allan Hill called him a stylist of the David Gower school, and wrote that this particular innings "aroused hopes of an exciting future".
Conscripted into National Service as a Bevin Boy in the coal mines after World War II, he worked at Askern Colliery in South Yorkshire, before receiving special permission (after his case had been debated in the House of Commons) to tour the West Indies with the MCC team of 1947-48.[1] Smithson he took part in two Test matches in the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados and the Queen's Park Oval in Port of Spain, Trinidad - where the West Indies trio of Frank Worrell, Clyde Walcott and Everton Weekes first appeared together. He was injured on the tour,[1] and did not play for Yorkshire in 1948.
In 1949, Smithson was part of Yardley's side that won the County Championship for the fourth successive time since the post-war resumption of first-class cricket, this time sharing the title with Middlesex. His last recorded appearance for Yorkshire was a match against Scotland at Edinburgh in July 1950.
In 1951 he joined Leicestershire, with whom he remained until the close of the 1956 season.[2] His best season there was in 1952, when he hit 1,264 runs, (including two centuries) averaging 28.08. His last first-class match was for Leicestershire against Northamtonshire at the County Ground, Northampton, in August 1956.
After his professional playing career ended, Smithson served as a professional cricket coach and groundsman, first at Caterham School, Surrey, and then at Abingdon School, Oxfordshire.[2] The Gerald Smithson Memorial Twenty20 Cricket Tournament was inaugurated at Abingdon School on 21 June 2009, with former England cricketer Devon Malcolm the guest of honour. The 2010 tournament took place on 27 June.
Smithson's photograph appeared twice in Wisden; once in 1948 on page 38,[2] and once as the frontispiece to the 1971 edition.
He married Anne Salter at St Peter's Church, Earley, Berkshire, in 1954. Together they had four daughters; Jacqueline (born 1956), Gillian (1958), Joanne (1964) and Justine (1966).
Gerald Smithson died suddenly in Abingdon, Oxfordshire in September 1970, at the age of 43.[2]