Graeme Smith

Captain, our captain – cricketing great

Graeme Smith. Photo courtesy wikimedia.org

Graeme Craig Smith was born on 1 February 1981 in Johannesburg.

He is a left-handed batsman who built his reputation on opening with some of South Africa’s greats such as Herschelle Gibbs and Neil McKenzie. He is the most prolific scorer of the opening batsmen who have played for this country, having been part of all four of South Africa’s opening partnerships that scored over 300 runs. In 2003, he made double centuries in consecutive Test matches in England and his post of 259 runs is the highest run rate of any foreign player at Lords.

Smith was only 22 when he was appointed captain of the Proteas. South African cricket was in a slump at that time after Hansie-gate. Hansie Cronjé was a brilliant cricketer, South African captain and role model to many, however he brought the South African game into disrepute by participating in match-fixing. On 7 April 2000, Delhi police proved that  Cronjé had a connection to Sanjay Chawla, who was part of an Indian betting syndicate. South Africans Herschelle Gibbs, Nicky Boje, and Pieter Strydom, were also drawn into the scandal.

On 7 June 2000, the King Commission investigated the allegations and on the 15 June, Cronjé released a statement that revealed all the contact he had made with bookmakers. Patriotic cricket supporters were gutted. Cricketing great, Shaun Pollock led the Proteas from 2000 – 2003 and had a tough task trying to raise morale. He had some disappointments in his captaincy including South Africa's poor performance in the 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup, an event that the host nation was tipped to win. At this point Smith was brought in.

This sportsman has become a controversial figure with a fair number of run-ins with people. West Indian cricketer Dwayne Bravo accused him of racial abuse which did not stick. His issues with ex-South African, Kevin Pietersen were well-documented as was his dispute with former England Test captain Michael Vaughan during the 2004/05 England tour of South Africa. Then Smith was taunted by Australian cricketers Matthew Hayden, Brett Lee, Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne and the fans on the 2005/06 tour where he was vilified in the press for his behaviour.  

He went on to storm to a double century in the 2003 tour of England prompting England Test cricketer Alec Stewart to call him "the most impressive 22-year-old I have seen in cricket”. The series was a 2-2 draw, but Smith’s batting average was an impressive 79.33 and he and Flintoff shared the Player of the Series title.

The year 2004 saw South Africa fail to deliver in One Day International (ODI) cricket, being defeated by New Zealand 5-1 in the series and losing 5-0 to Sri Lanka. Although they had triumphed against the West Indies 3-1, South African one day cricket was not looking good. In the Test matches series, losses to England, India and Sri Lanka did not enchant the fans and a home Test series win against the West Indies was little consolation. Smith and Gibbs shared their third 300-run opening partnership.

In October 2005, Smith captained the ICC World XI in the ICC Super Series Test Match between the ICC World XI and Australia, demonstrating his developing and recognised leadership skills. It seemed that his luck was turning when, that year, Smith scored three consecutive centuries helping South Africa win the test series in the West Indies.

The Australian team has always posed a challenge, though, and the 2005/06 season saw the Proteas go down 2-0 away and 3-0 at home.

South Africa's win over Australia in an ODI at the Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg, on March 12, 2006 was an awesome nail-biter. Chasing a 434 record total after 50 overs, South Africa reached 438 with a ball to spare. Smith scored 90 runs off 55 balls and he and Gibbs knocked up another memorable partnership of 187. South Africa redeemed itself with a 3-2 series win.

February 2007 gave Smith a chance to impress in the ODI series against Pakistan. He smashed Rana Naved-ul-Hasan for 27 and became the first player in ODI history to hit six fours off an over. Smith posted 72 from 47 balls as South Africa achieved figures of 392-6. The winning streak was on with 20 undefeated matches in ODIs in 2005.

For a brief period in early 2007, South Africa took the coveted spot at the top of the ICC ranking for ODI cricket. Smith scored four successive 50s but it was not enough and the performance in rest of 2007 resulted in a drop to second place after losing to Australia by 8 wickets.

The second Test against Bangladesh in February 2008 saw yet another extraordinary opening partnership in which Smith and Neil McKenzie set a world record 415. In the first Test against England at Lords in 2008, Smith and Mckenzie’s double century opening partnership became Smith’s seventh. Not giving up when the series seemed lost, Smiths second innings contributions of 154 and not out in the third Test resulted in South Africa winning the series against England, something that had not been achieved since 1965. This was gratifying on a personal level for Smith as his rivalry with Michael Vaughan had continued during defeats in the series in England in 2003 and at home in 2004/05.

The Australian Test and one day series was an early awaited battle with world numbers one and two playing with all they could muster.

 In the first Test match at Perth, Smith scored 108, his first century against Australia. South Africa chased down 414 runs with 6 wickets in hand. In December 2008, South African won a Test series against Australia, the first on their soil in 16 years.

Smith’s track record is testament to his talent and leadership skills. Not many men can claim to have achieved so much in their lifetimes, let alone in so few years. Love him or hate him, Smith rose to the challenge of leading the Proteas at 22 and is still at it. As the youngest captain ever, the square-jawed, highly ambitious player known to his team-mates as “Biff” still faces the opposition with his bat, a ball and steely determination.