Peter Smith

Who was Peter Smith?

Thomas Peter Bromley Smith was an English cricketer, who played for Essex and England. Smith was one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1947. An all-rounder, Smith played for Essex from 1929 to 1951.

Peter Smith was a leg-break and googly bowler and a lower order hitter of some style. He holds the Essex records both for the number of wickets in a season, and for wickets in a career.

Smith originally turned up at The Oval for the 1933 Test match against the West Indies, only to find that the telegram he had received was a hoax. It was another thirteen years before he was really selected for his country. He was noted for keeping to a good length, even when H. T. Bartlett smacked 28 off his six deliveries in the 1938 Gentlemen v. Players match at Lord's.

While playing for Essex against Derbyshire at Queen's Park, Chesterfield in 1947, he batted at number eleven, and came to the wicket with Essex 199 for 9 wickets. In two-and-a-half hours, Smith hit 163 runs, putting on 218 for the last wicket with Frank Vigar, who made an undefeated 114. Smith's 163 is the world record score for a number eleven batsman, and the partnership is one of only eleven of more than 200 runs for the last wicket in the whole of first-class cricket. In that season of 1947, Smith achieved the double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets, and also established the record for most runs conceded in a season: 4667.