Remembering Collie Smith

I wanted to acknowledge and honour the memory of Collie Smith who passed away 56-years ago today.

Collie's talents were immense and his performances in the Lancashire League were legendary. Just a few months before his passing, he scored 306 for Burnley against Lowerhouse in the first round of the Worsley Cup. What makes this then league record score in a one-day match so unique is that the match was played over four evenings. The previous record of 225 was set by Everton Weekes for Bacup in 1958. Smith went in at the fall of the second Burnley wicket and batted on all four evenings. The West End ground was too small to permit sixes, but Smith hit 56 boundaries. The biggest spell of hitting came on the third evening, when he repeatedly hit the ball into a nearby park. The scorecard from this match can be seen here .

For those that have not read it, Arunabha Sengupta penned this wonderful article on Collie for Cricket Country that is worthy of a read.

The rest can be read here .

the link does not work on my pc Dilly, but this late mawnin' this has brought a tear to my eye and happiness to my heart.  there may be a certain incongruity in tears in the eye of such as me but I can cry. and the memory of Smith triggered tears from me, a grown man.

I don't know if Smith would have been as good as Sobers in terms of technique and real ability.  Sobers had a great deal of ability and even he might be said not have realized all he had.  Clearly Smith had much more to give but at Sobers level is questionable.  Kanhai also was a better batsman.  but what both had over Smith was training in all relevant areas of life.

Smith was a very poor, ordinary boy who had little by way of anything in life save those who assisted him at Boystown.. an institution I understand in Jamaica that helps poor young boys find their way.  at the same time Sobers a prodigy grew up among some of the greatest cricketers of all time, in and around them, among thm in one of best and most productive domestic scene for cricket in the world at that time.

at he same time Kanhai, Butcher, Solomon  and company were being coached by Clyde Walcott in Guyana

this resulted in the superb techniques of Kanhai and Sobers in particular.  Smith was not so fortunate and his technique revealed flaws which were exploited on tour in Indian and Pakistan by the spinners in particular.  but very revealing also, was the fact that by the end of those tours Smith, who had failed up to then, scored big... which suggested that he had been fighting all along to correct his deficiencies and that his hard work had begun to pay dividends

but that was Smith in spades..he was a fighter. Smiths was a natural manhood and wide subjectivity that led to a fine sense of his west indan nature, that resulted in a fighting spirit the likes of which we have not see since in west indian players, no matter how great sobers himself became in that regard.

in his first test Smith scored a ton against Lindwall and the mighty Oz.  west indies were in desperate trouble and Smith stood up like a rock, immovable. in his second test Smith scored a pair and the reason for that is now clear.  the Oz as is their way, scoped him out thoroughly and devised the means to get him out cheaply.  and as is the west indian way even today, the west indies did not scope the Oz out in turn, anticipate that they would attack Smith as a real threat to them, and how they would attack him, and prepare Smith to deal with such an attack.

so by his second test against the Oz Smith was a sitting duck and he had no clue. he made a double duck and prolly never knew what had hit him until later.

but by 1957 the real Smith had exposed himself to the world, and the harder things got for the west indies the harder he came in response.  that was the essence of Smith, an emotional strength so large, it surpassed even Sobers' great quantity of natural ability in all facets of the game of cricket.

Smith was also smart and perfectly naturally mannered and gregarious in attitude, one of those unique human beings who were made by nature itself, for no one taught him much.  he did not have the training, learned as he went, but yet did not have the time in his short life and experience to really learn all that.  it was in him and out it came as he met his life and lived it, struggled with  it.

Collie Smith was destined to be west indian captain before Conrad Hunte and Gary Sobers, Rohan Kanhai.  his smarts and leadership qualities, his excellent participation in strategy sessions such as they were, were duly noted.  Michael Manley is  one of the commentators who discussed this aspect of Smith in his  great cricket book.

the player I find most resembles Collie Smith, down to his technical batting flaws, in all the years since Smiths passing, is  Mo'een Ali the english all rounder.  Mo'een is however left handed where Smith was right.  Mo'een has a huge fighting spirit, bowls off spin with his right hand and appears to have a personality similar to Smiths

R.I.P.

I never got to see but I heard !
                                               

www.espncricinfo.com/wisdenalmanack/content/story/154587.html

CRICKETER OF THE YEAR 1958

O'Neill Gordon Smith, infectious enthusiasm and huge grin make him such an outstanding personality.

                     

Sobers himself, a close friend and roommate on tours to England and Pakistan, was mortified —

not least because he had been the one driving the car when the fatal collision took place.

Few days after the incident, he was charged with careless driving and fined £10.

He was devastated by the implications, the burden of responsibility.

Smith was the one who took the wheels of Sobers’s Ford Perfect.

After a while he handed it to Dewdney. And in the wee hours, it was the turn of Sobers.

Dewdney moved to the passenger seat and Smith went to sleep in the back.

The car was speeding along A34 near Stone in Straffordshire.

At 4.45 am, as they approached the Darlaston Bend, two dazzling headlights blinded Sobers. He had no time to react. Everything went black.

Much later they learnt that they had collided with a 10-ton cattle truck. 


Sobers regained consciousness after a short while, heard Dewdney making a lot of noise and saw Smith lying on the ground.

“How are you little man?” he asked his friend.

Smith answered straightaway, “I’m all right, maan — go look at the big boy.”

An ambulance arrived and took the three to the hospital. Dewdney, with facial cuts and some lost teeth, remained unconscious...

Sobers had a dislocated bone in his wrist, a cut eye and a severed nerve in a finger.

For all his nonchalance of the moment, it was Smith who had been hit the worst

— with serious damage to his spinal cord.

Thanks for this great post about the late Collie Smith. I have always heard about him but never knew much about his life and how he died but this post was an eye opener.

Thanks so much for sharing this Mapoui. I was really hoping you would stop by and share your own personal memories of Collie. Thanks also for recommending Manley's History of West Indies cricket book. I just placed an order for this now. With 728 pages, this should keep me busy for some time.

The link to the article I referenced in my initial post is: www.cricketcountry.com/articles/collie-s...ce-and-tragedy-26017

The link to the scorecard from his 306 not out for Burnley can be viewed here:
cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/23/23482.html

Nice thread Dilly ... and very informative