Biography
Ed Smith was educated at Tonbridge and Peterhouse, Cambridge where he took a double First in History. In 1996, aged eighteen, he became the youngest ever Cambridge undergraduate to score a century on his first class debut. Later that summer, he made his debut for Kent where he played for nine seasons.
After becoming the first batsmen to reach 1000 runs in 2003, he was selected to play three Test matches for England against South Africa. Having moved from Kent to Middlesex, he captained his new club in 2007 and 2008. After breaking his ankle in 2008, Ed Smith retired from the first class game.
In 2005, Ed wrote and presented Peak Performance, a series on Radio 3 about classical music, sport and the shared experiences of professional performers.
He has written three books. While living in New York, he wrote Playing Hard Ball, a comparison of cricket and baseball and their relationships with national myth and identity. On and Off the Field, a diary of the year he played for England, was Wisden Book of the Year 2004. Most recently, What Sport Tells Us About Life explores sport’s intellectual hinterland. What is sport for and what does it tell us?
Ed has written for Prospect, the Spectator, Economic Affairs and Intelligent Life. He is now a leader writer at the Times.
Interviews
What sport tells us about a counterfactual historian
Financial Times, April 12th 2008
From reading to leading
Wisden Cricket Monthly, April 2007
Ed Smith’s early declaration is game’s loss
Times, November 27th 2008
Ed Smith to open new chapter after retiring
Simon Barnes in the Times, 26th November 2008
Beyond the clichés of motivational speaking
Management Today, June 2008