Robin Smith Dies at 62
Robin Smith, the former England batter who went toe-to-toe with some of the greatest fast bowlers of the 1980s and 90s, has died at his home in Australia at the age of 62.
smith played 62 Tests between 1988 and 1996, scoring 4,236 runs at 43.67 with nine centuries, including three against West Indies – the team that so often brought out his pugnacious best.
Smith’s signature shot was a front-foot square cut that was, by many estimations, one of the fiercest strokes in the world game, and it enabled him to thrive in cricket’s adrenalin-fuelled fast lane. This was especially true on England’s memorable tour of the Caribbean in 1990, when Smith was instrumental in England’s victory in the first Test in Jamaica and again on home soil in consecutive 2-2 drawn series against west Indies in 1991 and 1995.
At Edgbaston in 1993, Smith produced a remarkable innings of 167 not out in an ODI against Australia a score which would remain England’s highest in the format for 23 years, until surpassed by Alex Hales in 2016.
However, his perceived weakness against spin counted against him at key moments of his career, in particular with the emergence of Australia’s Shane Warne, whose success in his maiden Ashes tour in 1993 persuaded the selectors to omit smith from England’s subsequent visit to Australia 18 months later.
Ironically, Smith and Warne became lifelong friends – a relationship that was central to Warne’s decision to sign for Hampshire in the latter years of his career.
Born in South Africa in 1963, Smith was brought up to be a professional cricketer, and would spend hours honing his technique in the bespoke cricket net that his father built at the family home.