January 30, 2013 at 5:54 p.m.
From wooden planks to the World Cup
Groomed on a modest St. George’s pitch, cricket legend Clay Smith this week calls it quits
The 36-year-old, one of the best batsman this country has ever produced, called time on his 18-year career this week.
And though the highlights have been many - a Red Stripe Cup century against Jamaica, Bermuda's all-time leading run scorer in the ICC Trophy and an appearance at the World Cup among them - Smith insists he never forgot where he came from.
"We used to play at Mullet Bay and at St. George's CC, all day every day, from afternoon when we got out of school to sundown.
"We'd use whatever we found close to the playground - a piece of wood, whatever could be used as a bat basically," he said.
"When I look back on it, that's where it all started. That's where we built up the hunger, the passion. Everything started right there."
Smith's playmates in those early days were Troy Hall, Dwayne Richardson and Bermuda's World Cup wicket-keeper Dean Minors, his lifelong friend who retired immediately after the World Cup.
Neither player might have made it had it not been for Calvin 'Squaller' Richardson, who made them their first bats at his carpentry workshop after spotting them playing with pieces of board and tree trunk.
"During the World Cup, Dean and I sat down and reminisced about those days and where it all started. Dean was sure it was the right time for him to go.
"A small part of me wanted to carry on because I was not quite happy with how it ended. It was a high to go to the World Cup but personally I considered it going out on a low, for me."
Smith, who had been plagued by injuries for the final two years of his international career, struggled for form on his return to the national side.
He lost the captaincy to Irving Romaine and ultimately lost his place in the side to Stephen Outerbridge after being dismissed for a duck against Sri Lanka on Bermuda's World Cup debut.
"I was disappointed not to be able to play at the best of my ability at the World Cup, but I have to be grateful that I was even given the opportunity to go. I'm most sad to be leaving the players. They are a great group and I have enjoyed the camaraderie immensely."
Despite the personal disappointment at the World Cup, Smith says his two greatest moments as a Bermuda player came while he was actually off the field.
The first was as a non-playing captain at ICC Trophy 2005, when he watched from the sidelines with a knee injury as Bermuda beat the U.S. to become the smallest nation ever to qualify for the World Cup.
"That moment was all about Bermuda, not Clay Smith. It didn't matter that I was not playing.
"To see Bermuda achieve the goal we had been working towards for so long. It is a time that I could never ever forget. That moment was unbelievable."
The second greatest memory for Smith came just a couple of months ago against India as Malachi Jones became the youngest player ever to take a World Cup wicket.
"It was inspiring to see the enthusiasm that he showed, the excitement and the emotion. That made my World Cup," Smith said.
On a personal level he looks back on his century against Kenya in the ICC Trophy in 1994 and his two hundreds, including one against a Jamaican attack led by West Indies great Courtney Walsh, in the 1997 Red Stripe Cup.
"Those were my three favourite innings," added Smith, who cites his brothers Ray and Wendell as his greatest influence in cricket.
Smith, who is current under-13 coach at St. George's and will continue to play domestic cricket as player/coach at Cleveland, said his focus now was on bringing through the next generation.
His son Clay Darrell plays alongside him at Cleveland and his son Jonte Smith is part of his under-13 team in the east end.
Smith added that he would like to finish his career at St. George's and repay the club for everything they had done for him.
"Playing for St. George's Cricket Club alongside David Adams, Ricky Hodsoll, Graham Fox and the rest of them help to mold me into the player I am now. The St. George's league team of the early 1990s taught me about passion, self belief, commitment, hard work and most of all the will to win, and for that I say thank you to them.
"That's why it is so important that I do end up back there," he said.[[In-content Ad]]
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