Former England and Hampshire batsman Robin Smith has passed away at the age of 62. The news has come as a huge shock to all in the world of cricket – not only was Smith beloved by all, but he had been present at the first test of the Ashes in his adopted home town of Perth, and had spoken to the England Lions squad.
Largely avoiding the public spotlight in his later years, Smith was one of the world’s best in his day. Hailing originally from Durban but with English family, the man they called the Judge is one of many from South Africa to represent England. His test career, spanning from 1988 to 1996, was an exceptionally difficult era to bat; the West Indies were still ferocious, Pakistan could boast Akram, Waqar, and Imran, and Australia were emerging as the best team in the world. England, meanwhile, were beginning to really flounder. Botham was all but finished, Gower was nearing the end, and despite monumental efforts with the bat, Graham Gooch’s captaincy was unsuccessful.
Yet, in such a tough era, in such dire circumstances, Smith became an England hero. A destroyer of fast bowling, Smith came up against Marshall, Ambrose, the aforementioned Pakistanis, and more, facing them with huge bravery and great skill. Ian Bishop even broke his cheek in 1995, but still he was unfazed, putting off his hospital trip to see England win.
And then there was that cut shot. Dismissive and brutal in equal measure, the Judge could send the ball flashing away to the point boundary in an instant.
These abilities meant he averaged an outstanding 43.67 runs over 62 tests, and it is scarcely believable that he didn’t play more. Along with Gooch, he was by far the best batsman in the side, so to prematurely drop a batsman averaging in the mid-40s from a side consistently failing makes as little sense now as it did then.
There were certainly no personality issues to blame for this either. Despite the ruthlessness with which he dealt with fast bowling, Smith was a gentleman. Quiet, shy, and kind, the warmth of the tributes which have poured in from former teammates and others in cricket demonstrates how much he was admired and adored.
He continued to represent Hampshire for several years after his adventures in international cricket, representing the county for over two decades overall. In his time, he played with the likes of Malcolm Marshall, Gordon Greenidge, David Gower, and others, as Hampshire amassed a magnificent cast of cricketing heroes during the 1980s. My own support for Hampshire owes a lot to the Judge; he was my father’s favourite player, and his adoration for Hampshire was down in no small part to Smith and Marshall.
An incident involving the two friends is telling of Smith’s integrity and bravery. When the Bajan Marshall was being racially abused at the Hampshire team’s hotel in Leicester, Smith, having told them to stop, knocked the abuser-in-chief out with a single punch.
In his retirement, Smith struggled greatly with issues relating to substance abuse and depression. He was hugely candid about this in his 2020 autobiography, The Judge, and I don’t doubt that this honesty has been an invaluable source of comfort to many struggling with similar issues. For someone as visibly brave and strong as Smith to be so vulnerable is a powerful signifier of the damage these issues can cause for anyone.
For anyone reading this who has yet to watch Smith bat, please head to YouTube now, find some clips, and watch in awe at the fortitude, courage, strength, and skill of a cricketing force of nature. But do so in the knowledge that this is only half the story. To anyone who merely watched him on TV, Smith was an inspiration. But to anyone who interacted with Robin Smith in even the smallest way, he was an infinitely kind, thoughtful, and considerate man, who just happened to be a sporting hero too.
“A County Championship match at The Ageas Bowl – geograph.org.uk – 7452200” by John Sutton is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.