David Smith (sportsman)

David Bertram Miller Smith (14 September 1884 – 29 July 1963) was an Australian sportsman.

Dave Smith
Smith in 1911
Personal information
Full name David Bertram Miller Smith
Date of birth (1884-09-14)14 September 1884
Place of birth Richmond, Victoria
Date of death 29 July 1963(1963-07-29) (aged 78)
Place of death Hawthorn, Victoria
Height 183 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight 82 kg (181 lb)
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1903–1911 Essendon 142 (114)
1914 Richmond 001 00(3)
Total 143 (117)
Coaching career
Years Club Games (W–L–D)
1908–1909 Essendon 39 (26–13–0)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1914.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com
Cricket information
BattingRight-handed
International information
National side
Test debut (cap 104)24 June 1912 v England
Last Test19 August 1912 v England
Career statistics
Competition Test First-class
Matches 2 46
Runs scored 30 1764
Batting average 15.00 23.83
100s/50s 0/0 3/6
Top score 24* 146
Balls bowled 0 24
Wickets 0 1
Bowling average – 22.00
5 wickets in innings – 0
10 wickets in match – 0
Best bowling – 1/22
Catches/stumpings 0/– 16/–
Source: Cricinfo, 13 October 2022

Football career

His father was a champion Australian rules footballer for Carlton when Carlton was still in the Victorian Football Association (VFA) competition.[1]

Although born in Richmond, Dave Smith played 142 games of Australian rules football in the Victorian Football League (VFL) with Essendon from 1903 to 1913,[2] scoring 114 goals, captaining the Essendon team in its 1911 premiership year; his decision to go to Essendon (which, at the time, was playing its home games at the nearby Richmond) was because Richmond was a member of the VFA at the time.

He later played one match for Richmond in 1914, scoring three goals, and then retired.

Cricket career

He played district cricket with Richmond Cricket Club, captaining the team from 1910 to 1915, scoring 2404 runs, and winning the batting average in seasons 1908–09 and 1909–10. He played 46 first-class matches for Victoria and various Australian teams.

He toured New Zealand with the Australian side in 1909–10, and England with the Australians in 1912, where he played in two of the Test matches.

Having failed to appear at a disciplinary hearing of the Australian Cricket Board, conducted on the 1912 team's return to Australia to answer allegations that had been specifically levelled against him of indiscipline, drunken brawling, rudeness towards the English public, claiming illness, he never played another first-class match.

Footnotes
  1. "FOOTBALL". The Argus. No. 18, 374. Victoria, Australia. 6 June 1905. p. 7.
  2. In 1910 The Argus featured photographs of Smith demonstrating the stab-kick; see "'The Stab Kick' — A Football Development", The Argus, (Monday 27 June 1910), p.6.

References
  • Hogan P: The Tigers of Old, Richmond FC, (Melbourne), 1996. ISBN 0-646-18748-1
  • Maplestone, M., Flying Higher: History of the Essendon Football Club 1872–1996, Essendon Football Club, (Melbourne), 1996. ISBN 0-9591740-2-8
  • Ross, J. (ed), 100 Years of Australian Football 1897–1996: The Complete Story of the AFL, All the Big Stories, All the Great Pictures, All the Champions, Every AFL Season Reported, Viking, (Ringwood), 1996. ISBN 0-670-86814-0
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