Born in Ngaio, Wellington, Smith moved to Dunedin with his parents, Daniel and Annie Smith sometime prior to October 1925, where his father worked as a hospital orderly.[3] He attended Otago Boys' High School in the city.[4] He married Mavis Lucy Madigan in October 1937.[5]
Smith played association football for Northern AFC,[6] and played two official A-international matches for the New Zealand national football team in 1948,[1] both against the visiting Australian team, the first a 0–7 loss on 28 August, followed by a 0–4 loss on 4 September.[7]
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 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 in Dunedin that gave Otago the 1952–53 shield.[8] Dick Brittenden 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."[9]
After his playing career was over, Smith served as a Test selector, a role he also played for the Otago Cricket Association.[4][10] He was also a radio cricket commentator, in partnership with Iain Gallaway, when major matches were played at the Carisbrook ground in Dunedin.[11][12]
Smith worked as a schoolteacher.[4] In December 1965 he rescued two boys who had got into difficulty in the sea near the mouth of the Waikouaiti River, and almost drowned himself while trying unsuccessfully to rescue a third.[13] He, and the man who rescued him, were awarded the Royal Humane Society's bronze medal for bravery.[14] He died at Dunedin in 1978 at the age of 63.[15] Obituaries were published in the 1979 New Zealand Cricket Almanack and the 1980 Wisden Cricketers' Almanack.[4]
