Lankford Daniel Smith (21 December 1914 – 1 November 1978) was an

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who represented

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

at international level. He was also an accomplished

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er, playing first-class cricket for

Otago Otago (, ; ) is a regions of New Zealand, region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island and administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local go ...

from 1935 to 1957.

Life and career

Born in Ngaio,

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

, Smith moved to

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

with his parents, Daniel and Annie Smith sometime prior to October 1925, where his father worked as a hospital orderly. He attended

Otago Boys' High School Otago Boys' High School (OBHS) is a secondary school in Dunedin, New Zealand. It is one of New Zealand's oldest boys' secondary schools. Originally known as Dunedin High School, it was founded on 3 August 1863 and moved to its present site in 18 ...

in the city.McCarron A (2010) ''New Zealand Cricketers 1863/64–2010'', p. 121. Cardiff:

The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians (ACS) was founded in England in 1973 for the purpose of researching and collating information about the history and statistics of cricket. Originally called the Association of Cricket Stati ...

.
Available online
at the

Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians (ACS) was founded in England in 1973 for the purpose of researching and collating information about the history and statistics of cricket. Originally called the Association of Cricket Stati ...

. Retrieved 5 June 2023.) He married Mavis Lucy Madigan in October 1937. Smith played

for

Northern AFC Northern FC are based in the Northern area of the city of Dunedin, within the Southern Football Federation region of the New Zealand Football structure. The club has 10 senior teams, from Men's and Women's Premiership teams, Men's Reserves, Men ...

, and played two official A-international matches for the

New Zealand national football team The New Zealand men's national football team () represents New Zealand in men's international Association football, football competitions. The team is governed by the governing body for football in New Zealand, New Zealand Football (NZF), whic ...

in 1948, both against the visiting Australian team, the first a 0–7 loss on 28 August, followed by a 0–4 loss on 4 September. A middle-order batsman and left-arm spinner, Smith captained Otago in 1945–46 and from 1947–48 to 1955–56, leading the province to victory in the

Plunket Shield New Zealand has had a domestic first-class cricket championship since the 1906–07 season. Since the 2009–10 season it has been known by its original name of the Plunket Shield. History The Plunket Shield competition was instigated in Octo ...

in 1947–48, 1950–51 and 1952–53. In 62 first-class matches he scored 2281 runs at 24.52, and took 85 wickets at 38.23. He scored his only century in the victory over

Central Districts The Central Stags, formerly known as Central Districts, are a first-class cricket team based in central New Zealand. They are the men's representative side of the Central Districts Cricket Association. They compete in the Plunket Shield firs ...

in Dunedin that gave Otago the 1952–53 shield.

Dick Brittenden Richard Trevor Brittenden (22 September 1919 – 10 June 2002) was from the 1950s to the 1980s New Zealand's most prominent cricket writer. Early life, family and career Brittenden was born at Rakaia on 22 September 1919, and was educated at ...

said that apart from his batting, bowling and "inspiring example in the field", "perhaps his greatest asset as a captain was his firm belief in the ability of his team. He was so deeply convinced it was the better side that it very often was." After his playing career was over, Smith served as a

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film) ...

selector, a role he also played for the

Otago Cricket Association The Otago cricket team, nicknamed the Volts since the 1997–98 season, are a New Zealand first-class cricket team which first played representative cricket in 1864.Otago cricket history, ''The Star (Dunedin), Evening Star'', issue 21864, 30 Oc ...

. He was also a radio cricket commentator, in partnership with

Iain Gallaway Iain Watson Gallaway (26 December 192218 April 2021) was a New Zealand broadcaster, lawyer and cricketer. He was a commentator on the radio station Radio Sport, and a first-class cricketer. Between January 2021 and his death, Gallaway was New Z ...

, when major matches were played at the

Carisbrook Carisbrook (sometimes incorrectly referred to as Carisbrook Stadium) was a major sporting venue in Dunedin, New Zealand. The city's main domestic and international rugby union venue, it was also used for other sports such as cricket, football, ...

ground in

. Smith worked as a schoolteacher. In December 1965 he rescued two boys who had got into difficulty in the sea near the mouth of the

Waikouaiti River The Waikouaiti River is found to the north of Dunedin in Otago, New Zealand. It flows to the Pacific Ocean at Karitane, close to the town of Waikouaiti Waikouaiti is a small town in East Otago, New Zealand, within the city limits of Du ...

, and almost drowned himself while trying unsuccessfully to rescue a third. He, and the man who rescued him, were awarded the

Royal Humane Society The Royal Humane Society is a British charity which promotes lifesaving intervention. It was founded in 1774 as the ''Society for the Recovery of Persons Apparently Drowned'', for the purpose of rendering first aid in cases of near drowning. Hi ...

's bronze medal for bravery. He died at Dunedin in 1978 at the age of 63.Lankford Smith

CricInfo ESPNcricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a Sports journalism, sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including Liveblogging, liveblogs and sco ...

. Retrieved 1 January 2024. Obituaries were published in the 1979 ''New Zealand Cricket Almanack'' and the 1980 ''

Wisden Cricketers' Almanack ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "Bible of cricket" (or variations thereof) has been applied to ''Wi ...

''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Lankford 1914 births 1978 deaths New Zealand men's association footballers New Zealand men's international footballers New Zealand cricketers Otago cricketers Men's association football forwards New Zealand Services cricketers South Island cricketers New Zealand cricket commentators Cricketers from Dunedin Association footballers from Dunedin Cricketers from Wellington City Association footballers from Wellington City People educated at Otago Boys' High School 20th-century New Zealand sportsmen