Jim Smith (cricketer, born 1906)

{{Infobox cricketer

| name = Jim Smith

| image = Jim Smith of Middlesex in 1936.png

| caption = Smith in 1936

| fullname = Cedric Ivan James Smith

| birth_place = Corsham, Wiltshire

| birth_date = {{birth date|1906|08|25|df=y}}

| death_place = Mellor, Lancashire

| death_date = {{death date and age|1979|2|8|df=yes|1906|8|25}}

| batting = Right-handed

| bowling = Right-arm fast

| family = William Smith (brother)

| columns = 2

| column1 = Tests

| matches1 = 5

| runs1 = 102

| bat avg1 = 10.19

| 100s/50s1 = 0/0

| top score1 = 27

| deliveries1 = 930

| wickets1 = 15

| bowl avg1 = 26.19

| fivefor1 = 1

| tenfor1 = 0

| best bowling1 = 5/16

| catches/stumpings1= 1/–

| column2 = First-class

| matches2 = 208

| runs2 = 4,007

| bat avg2 = 14.67

| 100s/50s2 = 1/15

| top score2 = 101*

| deliveries2 = 43,058

| wickets2 = 845

| bowl avg2 = 19.25

| fivefor2 = 47

| tenfor2 = 8

| best bowling2 = 8/102

| catches/stumpings2= 98/–

| international = true

| country = England

| testdebutagainst = West Indies

| testdebutdate = 8 January

| testdebutyear = 1935

| lasttestdate = 24 July

| lasttestagainst = New Zealand

| lasttestyear = 1937

| source = https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/0/650/650.html CricketArchive

| date = 30 May

| year = 2010

}}

Cedric Ivan James Smith (25 August 1906 – 8 February 1979) was an English cricketer who played in five Test matches for the England cricket team between 1935 and 1937.

Career

Known as "Big Jim", Smith joined the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) ground staff in 1926 and played for Wiltshire until 1933. He qualified for Middlesex in 1934 and took 172 wickets at 18.88 to finish 6th in the bowling averages in his debut season. He was selected for the 1934–35 MCC tour of the West Indies on the strength of this performance and played in every Test there. On debut, he took five wickets in the second innings in Bridgetown.{{Cite web|url=http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/62624.html |title=1st Test: West Indies v England at Bridgetown, Jan 8-10, 1935 |access-date=2011-12-18 |work=espncricinfo}} He also appeared for England against New Zealand at Old Trafford in 1937. Smith only batted 10 times in Tests, but until his last innings he never batted in the same position in two successive innings. During his brief career he batted at numbers 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 (twice) and 10 (twice).{{cite book|last=Walmsley|first=Keith|title=Mosts Without in Test Cricket|year=2003|publisher=Keith Walmsley Publishing Pty Ltd|location=Reading, England |isbn=0947540067|pages=457}}

In 1935, Smith was elected one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year for his achievements in the 1934 season.

A six-foot four inch fast bowler, Smith's accuracy and appetite for hard work earned him 676 career wickets at 17.75 before the onset of World War II effectively ended his career.

Although primarily a fast bowler, Smith earned a reputation as a big-hitting tail-ender. In 1938, he scored a half-century in just 11 minutes against Gloucestershire at Bristol, the fastest genuine fifty on record.{{cite book|last1=Frindall|first1=Bill|title=The Wisden Book of Cricket Records|date=1998|publisher=Headline Book Publishing|location=London|isbn=0747222037|pages=124|edition=Fourth}}{{cite web|last=Williamson|first=Martin|title=The ultimate slogger|url=http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/209720.html|work=www.ESPNCricinfo.com|access-date=14 April 2013}} Previously, in 1935, he had scored 50 in 14 minutes against Kent while his sole first-class century, an unbeaten 101, was scored in 81 minutes, also against Kent.{{cite book|last=Bearshaw|first=Brian|title=The Big Hitters|year=1986|publisher=Queen Anne Press|location=England|isbn=0356106845|pages=199}} Another achievement was being credited by some with the biggest six in history, at Lord's in 1937, when he played a shot that cleared the Old Grandstand on the north side of the ground.

His older brother, William, also played first-class cricket.