Geoff Smith

Geoffrey Smith (30 November 1925 – 8 November 2016), known as Geoff Smith, was an English amateur cricketer who played for Kent County Cricket Club between 1951 and 1958. He made 42 appearances in first-class cricket for the county, playing in his holidays, and professionally worked on engineering projects around the world.

Early life Smith was born at Huddersfield in 1925. He was educated at Christ's Hospital, a private school in West Sussex. He played cricket at school, captaining the Christ's Hospital team in 1944, and was described as an "excellent allrounder" as a schoolboy. He played for The Rest against Lord's Schools in 1944, a season in which he led the Christ's Hospital school batting and bowling averages, scoring 276 runs and taking 40 wickets.

After leaving school, Smith played two one-day war-time matches for Surrey in 1945 before undertaking his National Service, after which he returned to play for Surrey Club and Ground, He was capped by the CCC in 1949.

First-class cricket at Kent Smith had moved to live in Kent by 1950 and played for Ashford Cricket Club. He impressed in matches against Kent County Cricket Club's Club and Ground teams and made his Kent First XI debut in June 1951, playing against Minor Counties at Canterbury.

In 1958 Smith played only once for the Kent First XI as a heart condition began to restrict his ability to play effectively. He had managed to play with an irregular heart beat throughout his career, to the extent that he was known to collapse whilst bowling. He made all of his 42 first-class appearances for Kent, taking 165 wickets.