Smith played for the Leicestershire second team for a couple of years as a teenager before making his first-class debut in the 1990 season in a game against Oxford University; he was lbw for four in his only innings, but got another chance in a County Championship match against Glamorgan a fortnight later.
He made no real impression with the bat, with a top score of only 44, but had some success as a bowler, taking the wicket of future New Zealand senior team captain Stephen Fleming on three occasions in the "Tests".
Some recovery followed as he averaged just over 30 in each of the following two years, but it was 1996 that saw him return to form with three centuries including 190 against Glamorgan in August, and passing a thousand runs in a first-class season for the first time, finishing with 1,243 at 47.80 and helping Leicestershire to their first County Championship since 1975.
Meanwhile, he had enjoyed two productive seasons with Central Districts in New Zealand, hitting 201 not out against Canterbury in 2001–02 in a match where his team had lost their first three wickets by the time seven runs were on the board.
However, he resigned the captaincy in the middle of the match against Northamptonshire in August 2004, handing over to Steve Rhodes for the remainder of the season on the grounds that he wanted to concentrate on his form with the bat.