Former Warwickshire and England captain Mike Smith, known throughout the game as MJK, has sadly passed away at the age of 92. OUCC held a minute's silence prior to their match against Cambridge on 19th May to commemorate the life of MJK Smith.
Born Michael John Knight Smith on 30 June 1933 in Leicester and raised nearby in Broughton Astley, the right-handed batter went on to enjoy one of the most distinguished careers in post-war English cricket, playing 50 Tests for England and captaining the side in exactly half of those matches.
Smith was educated at Stamford School before going up to St Edmund Hall, Oxford, where he read geography. It was at Oxford that he first came to national prominence, achieving the rare feat of scoring centuries in three consecutive Varsity matches against Cambridge from 1954 to 1956 — a record that cemented his reputation as one of the finest young batters in the country. He was also elected president of Vincent's Club, the famous Oxford sporting society, in 1956, underlining his standing within university sport.
His time at Oxford was remarkable not only for cricket. A dual international, Smith also represented Oxford University and Leicester at rugby union, winning his sole England cap against Wales in January 1956. He remains England's last male double international in major sports, taking his final appearance in 1972.
After Oxford, Smith joined Warwickshire in 1956 and was appointed captain just a year later, a role he held until 1967 before returning to play between 1970 and 1975. He made his England debut against New Zealand at Edgbaston in 1958 and went on to score 2,278 runs in a 14-year Test career, including three centuries and 11 fifties. He was awarded the OBE in 1976 for services to cricket.
Across 637 first-class matches, Smith amassed 39,832 runs — the 18th-highest total of all time — and was one of the heaviest scorers in the county game for a decade, with 3,249 first-class runs in 1959 his highest aggregate. He still holds the Warwickshire record for most runs in a single season, having scored 2,417 in that same 1959 campaign, and was named a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1960.
Smith remained closely involved with the game after retirement, serving as chairman of Warwickshire and as an ICC match referee, officiating in four Tests and 17 ODIs.
Everyone at OUCC would like to pass on their condolences to the friends and family of MJK Smith.
