England cricketer Robin Smith was as humble in life as he was courageous and determined on the crease.

His death was mourned throughout England and all other cricketing countries and it was certainly remembered that he was ahead of his time in cricket. Former England captains and teammates paid emotional tributes and remembered him in different ways. Friends called him ‘Judge’ (at one time for his wavy, wig-like hair). Nasser Hussain remembered Smith as much for his gentle nature as for his courage at the crease. Mike Atherton discussed Smith’s toughness, recalling the determination that characterized him on and off the field. Mark Nicholls believes Robin Smith was Hampshire’s greatest player – shy and naive off the field but a brilliant batsman on the field.

That is why it is surprising that in the last few years, he has been in the news more for his struggle with alcohol addiction rather than for cricket. He also wrote about his problem in his 2019 autobiography ‘The Judge: More Than Just a Game’.

In 1993, he scored 167* off 163 balls against Australia in Birmingham, which was then the top score by an England batsman in men’s ODI and this record remained in his name for 23 years. This was in those days when batting of even one run on one ball was rarely seen. In August 2016, Alex Hales broke this record.

Some more special things about Robin Smith:

* Debuted for Hampshire against Lancashire at Bournemouth in June 1983 and in that match Robin and his brother Chris both scored exactly 100.

* Born in South Africa, played for England and now living in Perth.

* In 1996, when he was dropped from the team, the truth is that his record was better than all the other players in the team. He was very disappointed by this because he felt that he could have played good cricket for five more years.

* Played for Hampshire between 1982 and 2003 and made his Test debut in 1988. Was the captain of Hampshire between 1998 and 2002. Earlier, the team had won the Benson & Hedges Cup in 1988 and 1992 and the NatWest Trophy in 1991.

* Was a world class batsman and between his debut and last Test, only Mark Taylor (5471), David Boon (5448) and Graham Gooch (4622) scored more runs than his 4236.

* Out of the 62 Tests played, 19 were against the West Indies, who had an amazing fast bowling attack at that time and the average of 44.43 recorded against them was higher than the average of 43.32 of all the teams combined. Scored 553 runs in the 1989 Ashes series.

* In the 1995 Old Trafford Test against West Indies, his jaw was broken by a short ball from Ian Bishop. The ball had hit his cheekbone from behind. There was blood everywhere. Retired hurt.

An ambulance was called and a stretcher was brought to the dressing room to take him to the hospital. England were then trying to achieve a small target to win but the problem was that wickets were continuously falling. Robin was on a stretcher but did not agree to go to the hospital until the victory was confirmed. When needed, he was ready to bat even in that situation.

* Shane Warne was his best friend. It was Smith who brought his friend Shane Warne to play for Hampshire. Even then he never played the ball of that great leg spinner in the nets. While on one hand Pace was famous for playing the attack bravely, on the other hand it is believed that he was not that good against spin. Surprisingly, despite this thinking, he scored a lot of runs against Asian teams (average 63 against India and 67 against Sri Lanka). The biggest problem for him was Warne. Warne himself had made Smith’s condition such that in 1993 he would not be able to show the same form as four years earlier. Perhaps this was the reason why he was dropped from the 1994-95 Ashes.

Players of England and Australia wore black armbands on the first day of the Pink Ball Test in Brisbane. Before the match started, a short and emotional tribute was given explaining the reason for wearing this armband. Players and fans kept a minute of silence for Robin Smith. There are not many such players in cricket.