In the 1877 season Smith's batting average was up to the twenties and his Derbyshire side won five matches to three losses.
The highly experienced Australian team, consisting entirely of contemporary Test players, won with an innings to spare.
Also in 1880 Smith opened for the Gentlemen against the Players, along with George Barrington, just three weeks after an innings victory over a Canadian representative team, which included Thomas Phillips and Walter Gilbert.
Smith carried on captaining the Derbyshire team in the 1881, 1882 and 1883 seasons playing more matches but seeing fewer wins.
[1] Smith continued as a farmer of 50 acres (200,000 m2) with one employee, living with his wife Sarah, a brother, John, eight years his junior, and a domestic servant.