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Robin Smith

Personal information
Full name	Robin Arnold Smith
Born	(1963-09-13)13 September 1963 Durban, Natal Province, South Africa
Died	1 December 2025(2025-12-01) (aged 62) Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Nickname	Judge
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Batting	Right-handed
Bowling	Leg break
Relations	Chris Smith (brother)
International information
National side	England
Test debut (cap 530)	21 July 1988 v West Indies
Last Test	2 January 1996 v South Africa
ODI debut (cap 101)	4 September 1988 v Sri Lanka
Last ODI	9 March 1996 v Sri Lanka
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1980/81–1984/85	Natal
1982–2003	Hampshire(squad no. 1)
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA Matches 62 71 426 443 Runs scored 4,236 2,419 26,155 14,927 Batting average 43.67 39.01 41.51 41.12 100s/50s 9/28 4/15 61/131 27/81 Top score 175 167* 209* 167* Balls bowled 24 – 1,099 27 Wickets 0 – 14 3 Bowling average – – 70.92 5.33 5 wickets in innings – – 0 0 10 wickets in match – – 0 0 Best bowling – – 2/11 2/13 Catches/stumpings 39/– 26/– 233/– 159/–
Medal record Men'sCricket Representing England ICC Cricket World Cup Runner-up 1992 Australia and New Zealand
Source:Cricinfo,5 October 2009

Robin Arnold Smith (13 September 1963 – 1 December 2025) was a South African-born English cricketer. He was a part of theEnglish squad which finished asrunners-up at the1992 Cricket World Cup.

Smith was nicknamed Judge or Judgie for his resemblance to a judge when he grew his hair long.^[1] Like his older brotherChris, he was unable to play for the country of his birth because of the exclusion of theapartheid regime from international cricket, but because he had British parents he qualified to play for England.^[2]

He played for England in eleven home test series and on six overseas tours from 1988 to 1996. Smith was best known for his ability against fast bowling, with what was regarded as a trademarksquare-cut that he hit ferociously.^[2] He trained to be apsychologist.

Incounty cricket, Smith played forHampshire,captaining them from 1998 to 2002, before retiring fromfirst-class cricket in 2003. He helped Hampshire to win theBenson and Hedges Cup in 1988 and 1992, and theNatWest Trophy in 1991, winning theman of the match award in the last two finals.

UntilKevin Pietersen (another English cricketer born in South Africa) was signed by Hampshire fromNottinghamshire in 2005, Smith was Hampshire's most successful England batsman sinceC. B. Fry.

Robin Arnold Smith was born inDurban,South Africa on 13 September 1963.^[2] He completed his high school education at Northwood School. The School honoured his career achievements by naming the 1st team cricket oval after him.^[3] In his first Test atHeadingley in 1988, he shared a century partnership with fellow South African-born batsmanAllan Lamb. This was one of very few century partnerships for England duringthe series against the firepower of theWest Indies fast bowlers. The following summer, 1989, Smith was the only successful England batsman in theAshes series making two centuries. In his second hundred atTrent Bridge, he arrived with England already three wickets down chasing 600, and played some powerful shots – particularly offMervyn Hughes whose bowling figures were, at one point 4–0–38–0.

Smith's highest test score, 175 against the West Indies inAntigua, was made as England replied toBrian Lara's record-breaking innings of 375. Despite his domination of fast, aggressive bowling, Smith suffered from a well-publicised vulnerability to slower bowlers. Although as ever he performed well against the opposition fast bowlers, his struggles against spin first came to prominence when he struggled againstMushtaq Ahmed in the 1992 test series against Pakistan and, then again in England's tour of India the following winter. In the one-off test against Sri Lanka that followed, he was promoted to open the batting so that he would face less spin bowling, and scored a century, his first test century overseas (all of his other test centuries to that point had come in England).^[4] Smith's most well-documented problems against spin, like many batsmen of his generation, came againstShane Warne who caused him significant problems in the 1993 Ashes.

He was one of England's most courageous players. Smith was targeted by the West Indies at Antiguain 1989–90 with fast short pitched bowling giving him no room for his favourite shots. During that innings, he was hit on the finger (subsequently diagnosed as broken) and hit flush on the jaw by a bouncer fromCourtney Walsh – but neither blow forced him to retire hurt (although he did retire hurt in the second innings of the match).

Smith was part of England'sCricket World Cup squad in 1992. He scored 167 not out for England againstAustralia in the 1993Texaco Trophy atEdgbaston, when Australia won by six wickets. This was the highest score made by an England batsman in an ODI (untilAlex Hales scored 171 againstPakistan in 2016), and was the highest score made by any batsman who finished on the losing side in such a game (untilCharles Coventry scored 194 againstBangladesh in a losing cause).

Although he had mixed fortunes in terms of individual performance in test matches against Australia, the fortunes of his team in those matches varied strikingly little: England did not win any of the 15 test matches in which he appeared against Australia.

Despite this, when Smith was dropped from the England team it was popularly perceived as premature, particularly given his Test batting average of over 43. Backing this up is the ICC's historical rankings of Test batsmen, which placed Smith as the 77th greatest batsman in history, and 17th greatest Englishman (ahead of others such asAlec Stewart andMike Atherton).^[5]

In 1994, before Smith scored 175 in the fifth and final Testagainst the West Indies, he was accused by the then England coachKeith Fletcher of "having too many fingers in too many pies".^[6][7]

After retiring from county cricket at the end of the 2003 season, Smith relocated to Australia to help run helmet manufacturer Masuri. After suffering from mental health problems andanxiety, he worked for his brother's clothing company and ran his own cricket coaching academy. In 2016, Smith was studying for a degree in psychological science atSwinburne University,Melbourne.^[8][9]

Smith died at his home inPerth, on 1 December 2025 at the age of 62. His death was announced by former teammateKevan James.^[10][11][12]

• Robin Smith atESPNcricinfo
• Robin Smith atIMDb

• 1963 births
• 2025 deaths
• Cricketers at the 1992 Cricket World Cup
• Cricketers at the 1996 Cricket World Cup
• England One Day International cricketers
• England Test cricketers
• English cricketers
• English cricketers of 1969 to 2000
• 20th-century English sportsmen
• Hampshire cricket captains
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• KwaZulu-Natal cricketers
• Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers
• South African emigrants to the United Kingdom
• South African people of English descent
• Cricketers from Durban
• Wisden Cricketers of the Year
• Alumni of Northwood School, Durban
• Swinburne University of Technology alumni

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