Jonathan Fellows-Smith
Encyclopedia
Jonathan Payn Fellows-Smith (born 3 February 1932 in Durban
, Natal) is a former South Africa
n cricket
er who played in four Tests
in 1960.
Fellows-Smith, nicknamed "Pom Pom", was an aggressive right-handed middle order batsman and a useful right-arm medium pace bowler who played the bulk of his cricket in England. Appearing first as a student for Oxford University
in 1953, he won his Blue that season and in the following two years as an all-rounder. He stayed in England after his university days and played fairly regularly for Northamptonshire
in 1957, when the team equalled its highest-ever placing by coming second in the County Championship
.
He finally played his first first-class cricket
in his native country in 1958-59, turning out regularly for Transvaal
that season, and the following year he averaged more than 70 runs per innings in the South African domestic season, and was picked for the 1960 South African
tour to England.
The tour was not a success, hampered by bad weather and overshadowed by controversy over the bowling action of the fast bowler Geoffrey Griffin. For much of the tour, Fellows-Smith batted very low in the batting order and his bowling was also not used much. He still returned respectable figures of 863 runs and 35 wickets, and he played in four of the five Tests, again batting well down the order in three of them, but promoted to No 3 for the final match at The Oval
. He got a reasonable start in most of his Test innings, but his top score was no more than 35, and he failed to take a single Test wicket.
After the 1960 tour, Fellows-Smith played one more first-class match in South Africa and just two more in England, both for Free Foresters against his former university. In 1966, he played Minor Counties cricket for Hertfordshire
.
Fellows-Smith was also a rugby union
player who won a Blue for Oxford.
Durban
Durban is the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal and the third largest city in South Africa. It forms part of the eThekwini metropolitan municipality. Durban is famous for being the busiest port in South Africa. It is also seen as one of the major centres of tourism...
, Natal) is a former South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
n cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
er who played in four Tests
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
in 1960.
Fellows-Smith, nicknamed "Pom Pom", was an aggressive right-handed middle order batsman and a useful right-arm medium pace bowler who played the bulk of his cricket in England. Appearing first as a student for Oxford University
Oxford University Cricket Club
Oxford University Cricket Club is a first-class cricket team, representing the University of Oxford. It plays its home games at the University Parks in Oxford, England...
in 1953, he won his Blue that season and in the following two years as an all-rounder. He stayed in England after his university days and played fairly regularly for Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire County Cricket Club
Northamptonshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Northamptonshire. Its limited overs team is called the Northants Steelbacks. The traditional club colour is Maroon. During the...
in 1957, when the team equalled its highest-ever placing by coming second in the County Championship
County Championship
The County Championship is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales...
.
He finally played his first first-class cricket
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
in his native country in 1958-59, turning out regularly for Transvaal
Transvaal cricket team
Gauteng cricket team is the first-class cricket team of the province of Gauteng in South Africa....
that season, and the following year he averaged more than 70 runs per innings in the South African domestic season, and was picked for the 1960 South African
South African cricket team
The South African national cricket team represent South Africa in international cricket. They are administrated by Cricket South Africa.South Africa is a full member of the International Cricket Council, also known as ICC, with Test and One Day International, or ODI, status...
tour to England.
The tour was not a success, hampered by bad weather and overshadowed by controversy over the bowling action of the fast bowler Geoffrey Griffin. For much of the tour, Fellows-Smith batted very low in the batting order and his bowling was also not used much. He still returned respectable figures of 863 runs and 35 wickets, and he played in four of the five Tests, again batting well down the order in three of them, but promoted to No 3 for the final match at The Oval
The Oval
The Kia Oval, still commonly referred to by its original name of The Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. In the past it was also sometimes called the Kennington Oval...
. He got a reasonable start in most of his Test innings, but his top score was no more than 35, and he failed to take a single Test wicket.
After the 1960 tour, Fellows-Smith played one more first-class match in South Africa and just two more in England, both for Free Foresters against his former university. In 1966, he played Minor Counties cricket for Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire County Cricket Club
Hertfordshire County Cricket Club is one of the county clubs which make up the Minor Counties in the English domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Hertfordshire and playing in the Minor Counties Championship and the MCCA Knockout Trophy...
.
Fellows-Smith was also a rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
player who won a Blue for Oxford.