Paul Smith

Paul Smith played for Warwickshire from 1982 to 1996 and was a big hitting right-handed batsman and genuinely fast right arm bowler.

He made four first class hundreds in his 221 game career, the first when he was just 19, and in 1986 scored 1,500 runs as an opening batsman. In all first class cricket he scored a total of 8173 runs at 26.44 with a best of 140. With the ball he took 283 wickets at 35.72 which included two hat-tricks, in 1989 and 1990 and a best of 6 for 91.

Always a potent force in the one day game, able to turn a match with bat or ball, he won 3 titles with Warwickshire in the 50 over game.

He was released by the county in 1996 and struggled with life after cricket and moved to America for a time where he became involved with the ‘Cricket without boundaries’ project in Los Angeles which seeks to use the spirit and disciplines of cricket to turn youngsters away from crime. He also works for the Prince’s Trust in the U.K.

In 2007, Paul published a revealing autobiography entitled ‘Wasted’, described by one reviewer as a work of refreshing honesty. He is now becoming a popular speaker on the after dinner circuit.