Robin Smith dead at 62: Former team-mate breaks down in tears on radio as he reveals death

 Former England cricketer Robin Smith has tragically passed away at the age of 62.

A tearful Kevan James, who played for Hampshire with Smith in the late 1980s and early '90s, made the 'horrible' announcement on Solent News this morning. 

The former international batsman is thought to have passed away overnight in Australia, just a week after opening up about his struggles with depression and alcoholism in a candid interview with Daily Mail Sport.

'Oh gosh it’s been horrible unfortunately. It was happening as I was reading out some of the sports news,' James said. 'He was at the time, in the 80s and 90s, England’s best batter. He averaged 43 in Test matches and he averaged over 40 when he was dropped after the mid-nineties Test series in South Africa which is quite incredible now, isn’t it, to think a batter would be dropped averaging that many.

'He was a super player, particularly of fast bowling in an era where the West Indies had all these fast bowlers. He was one of the few England batters who stood up to them and basically gave as good as he got.'

It was only last week that Smith, who moved to Perth in his retirement, was invited by Andrew Flintoff to speak to the England Lions after their four-day match against a Cricket Australia XI. 

The former Hampshire captain was also in attendance at the first Ashes Test at the Optus Stadium in his home city of Perth, where he caught up with old friends and team-mates Graham Gooch and David Gower. 

Having grown up in Durban, South Africa, Smith played 62 tests for his adopted England between his debut in 1988 and his final game, in his native South Africa in January 1996. For sheer ferocity, his square-cut may never have been surpassed.

His unbeaten 167 in a one-day international against Australia at Edgbaston was among England’s greatest limited-overs innings.

But the England management never fully appreciated his talents, nor acknowledged his fragility. For all his gifts, Smith lacked self-belief, an affliction he carried with him until the end.

It was when he was dropped from the England squad in 1996 that Smith began to struggle with his mental health, he told Daily Mail Sport last week. 

'If I'm going to be really honest, yeah (it did deteriorate then),' he admitted. 

Smith played during an era of heavy drinking and struggled with alcoholism after his retirement. 

Only last year, he had a brush up with death when he spent seven months in hospital battling cirrhosis of the liver after spending more than a decade drinking a bottle of vodka a day.

'My brother Chris and son Harrison were called in by doctors and told I had a five per cent chance of walking out. So it’s amazing that I’m here talking to you,' he said. 

'Drinking a bottle of vodka a day for 12 years obviously didn’t do the liver much good, but I went on a strict diet, and I’ve got to be really careful.'

The South-African born maverick was given the nickname 'Judgie' as a youngster - because of his crinkly hair resembling a lawyer's wig - which stuck with him until his death. 

However Smith admitted that he was often living up to a persona, both during and after his playing days.

‘It was always really difficult, because people know Judgie as Judgie, and I’m Robin. Robin Smith,' the international cricketer said.

'I have always been very quiet, reserved, shy. I speak a little bit now publicly about mental health, and I was very, very close twice, within minutes, of finishing my life.

‘I wish I’d spoken to my friends. I didn’t want to burden them with my problems, but I should have reached out to them. Anyone who thinks they might be a burden on their friends, they’re absolutely not. You’ve just got to be open and be yourself. And now I’m Robin, back being shy.’ 

More recently, his partner of 17 years, Karin, had been undergoing emergency stem-cell treatment in Switzerland after a late diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. 

They said she’s only got a 60 per cent chance of coming home. It’s a 20 per cent chance of her getting better, and 30 per cent chance of her just levelling out.

‘She used to be a great dancer but she’s in a wheelchair now, and the other weekend I took her to the Windsor Hotel in south Perth, and we listened to our music and I spun her around in the wheelchair.’  

Smith also dealt with the death of his parents in the years before his passing. His mother died during the Covid pandemic while his father, who he called his 'best buddy' died just four months ago.  

But he remained upbeat, meeting old friends and team-mates during the first Ashes Test at Perth, and looking forward to watching the Brisbane game on TV at home. Now, suddenly, he is gone.