Will is a right-handed batsman and off-break bowler.
Signed to add experience to the squad ahead of the 2014 season, he had already had an impressive career and one which had seen him get to know a fair few of his Hampshire team-mates quite well.
It started with him winning the British Universities Championship with Durham Uni (beating James Tomlinson’s Cardiff Uni on the way to the Final at the Utilita Bowl) in 2003.
He then represented the British Universities side alongside Jimmy Adams against Sri Lanka A in 2004.
However, his career really took off when he moved to Durham in 2007, eventually captaining the County to the title in 2009 – a season in which he scored 150 against Hampshire on the south coast.
Upon joining Hampshire, Smith had already picked up four LV= County Championship winners medals - three with Durham and a fourth with Nottinghamshire in 2005.
Smith enjoyed a fantastic first season with Hampshire, contributing in all three formats of the game. 2014 saw Smith reach 1,000 County Championship runs in a season for the first time in his career alongside a brilliant performance with the ball in T20 cricket, finishing with 20 wickets - the sixth highest wicket-taker in the competition!
Smith was deservedly named the 2014 Players' Player of the Year at the end of the season.
Smith’s importance to Hampshire in all formats was once again highlighted with the fact he played in all but two of the club’s matches in 2015. Despite not scoring a century, Smith’s experience in the top/middle order proved vital to the club’s successes and the 33-year old finished as Hampshire’s second-highest runs-scorer in the Championship.
Day one of Hampshire’s Championship match against Worcestershire on Sunday 19 July at the Utilita Bowl proved to be a special day for Smith who was awarded with his county cap.
Announced as Hants' stand-in four-day captain in May 2016, with James Vince away on international duty, Smith began his spell as skipper with a 69-run win over Nottinghamshire - Hampshire's first County Championship victory of 2016 - and then by hitting his career best knock.
Facing Lancashire at the Utilita Bowl in August 2016, Smith's produced a determined double-hundred, scoring 210 runs off 455 balls during almost ten hours in the middle as Hampshire declared on 548-6.
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