Former England batter Robin Smith has passed away in Australia at the age of 62.
Smith's passing comes two weeks after he was invited by Andrew Flintoff to speak to the England Lions in Perth, after their four-day match against a Cricket Australia XI. He was also in attendance at the first Ashes Test, where he made a moving speech at a function during the Lunch interview about his post-career struggles with alcoholism and his mental health. In an interview in The Sunday Times last week, Smith detailed how he came close to death last year when he spent several months in hospital, during which his family and friends were told he only had days to live.
A statement from Smith's family read: "It is with the deepest and most profound sense of sadness and loss that we must announce the passing of Robin Arnold Smith, beloved father of Harrison and Margaux and cherished brother of Christopher.
"Robin died unexpectedly at his South Perth apartment on Monday 1st December. The cause of his death is at present unknown."
Between 1988 and 1996, Smith played 62 Tests for England, scoring 4,236 runs at 43.67 with nine hundreds. The most famous of these were the two hundreds in the 1989 Ashes, where his 553 runs were one of the few bright spots in an otherwise disastrous series for England. He also made 175 against Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh at St John’s in 1994.
Smith also made 2,419 runs at 39.01 from 71 ODIs, which included both the 1992 and 1996 World Cups. His 167 not out against Australia in 1993 remained the highest ODI score for England until Alex Hales’ 171 in 2016. In a long, illustrious first-class career, mostly for Hampshire, he made 26,155 runs in first-class cricket with 61 hundreds.
Also read: How Robin “The Judge” Smith made me his firm devotee
Smith shared his birthday with his Hampshire teammate and great friend, Shane Warne. In Shane Warne‘s Century, the Australian put him as the 47th-best cricketer he had played with or against. “One of the main reasons I came to Hampshire in 2000 was to play with him,” wrote Warne. “No praise is too high for Robin Smith ... He is the nicest guy I have ever met, and is a wonderfully loyal person.”
Like elder brother Chris (eight Tests, four ODIs), the Durban-born Smith was born and brought up in South Africa and started his cricket career at Natal. Both brothers later moved to England, whom they represented in international cricket.
Following his retirement, Robin Smith – he was nicknamed “Judge” for the “magisterial crinkle” of his hair – Smith relocated to Australia to help run Masuri, the helmet manufacturers.
