LONDON (Web Desk) - MJK Smith, the former Warwickshire and England captain, has died at the age of 92. Smith captained England in 25 of his 50 Tests between 1958 and 1972, and scored 2,278 runs at 31.63, with three hundreds and 11 fifties, and was awarded an OBE for his services to cricket in 1976.
He was a stalwart at Warwickshire throughout that time, in a 19-year career from 1956 to 1975, including ten years as captain from 1957 to 1967. His best season came in 1959, when he scored a club-record 2,417 runs to be named as a Wisden Cricketer of the Year the following year. In all he scored 39,832 first-class runs in 637 matches, the 18th-highest total of all time.
Mild-mannered and bespectacled, Smith was the product of Stamford School and Oxford University, but possessed an everyman quality that made him popular with his players at the tail-end of the era in which it was expected that a gentleman amateur would captain professional cricket teams.
His captaincy record reflected the cautious era in which he played. He won five, lost three and drew 17 of his Tests in charge, but lost only one of the six series that he led. This came against Garry Sobers' powerful West Indies team in 1966, after he had secured a creditable 1-1 draw in Australia the previous winter.
Smith was also a rare dual international. As a fly-half, he played rugby union for Oxford University and Leicestershire, and claimed a one-off England cap against Wales in 1956.
In retirement, he stayed active in cricket, becoming chairman of Warwickshire and an ICC match referee, standing in four Tests and 17 ODIs. He also served as an England tour manager, including on the Ashes tour of 1994-95.
Mike Atherton, who captained that tour, paid tribute to Smith in The Times. "MJK's good humour and easygoing demeanour was a wonderful antidote to the occasional stress and pressure I felt as captain," he wrote. "He was utterly unpretentious and saw cricket for what it was -- which is to say not a matter of life and death."
Geoffrey Boycott, England's former opener who played alongside Smith in 18 Tests between 1964 and 1972, wrote in the Telegraph that he had "a great sense of humour, no edge and was never officious. He was just a good man, a good gentle guy and you wanted him to do well. He gave you freedom to play and was not a martinet."
His death was marked at Edgbaston on Monday morning, as players and officials from Warwickshire and Glamorgan lined up on the outfield to pay their respects before the start of the final day's play in their County Championship fixture.
Richard Thompson, the chair of the ECB, added: "Mike was a part of a group of former players who did so much both on and off the field. Having a player of Mike's talent to chair a county as well as play for it was a huge benefit and Mike performed both roles with distinction. His contribution to the game will not be forgotten."