A Sportskeeda author rightly said, “Graeme Craig Smith took over the reins, a manly desire to script a legacy of his own itched on his boyish face.”
Graeme Smith started his captaincy career when South Africa was under lots of pressure. Shaun Pollock had announced retirement from all forms of cricket after the debacle in 2003 world cup. As hosts, they were criticized for their underperformance. Smith’s selection as a captain was also becoming a lot of concern and the decision was opposed as there were many other experienced players in the form of Gary Kirsten and Herschelle Gibbs who could have given the chance of the leadership. But nobody knew that the following 10 years would be known in the cricket history as The Graeme Smith era. As a leader he not only lifted his team’s position in world cricket, but also changed South African cricket.
The series in England, in 2003, brought a huge turning point in Smith’s career as he scored back to back double centuries in the 1st two test matches. His score of 277 and 257 led England selectors select a new captain in the form of Michael Vaughan after Nasser Hussain resigned from leadership. Smith opened the batting and led South Africa from the front from the word ‘go’.
His captaincy came at a time when players like Pollock and Kirsten were retiring. In spite of that, he never lost hope and continued to lead the team in the best possible manner. If he wasn’t that effective with the bat, he showed great captaincy skills in the field and would, sometimes, spur the bowlers to attack the batsmen. His words were much effective and would bring a drastic change in his team when they were down and out in a series.
He showed great capability of an opener as he anchored many run chases and played a ‘captain’s knock’. In Gary Kirsten’s last test, at Wellington, he scored an unbeaten 125 to chase down 234. In 2008, at WACA, Smith set up a great platform by scoring 108 in a historic run chase of 414. In a famous test at Cape Town, he led South Africa to a remarkable victory after being bowled out for just 96 runs in the 1st innings. His bowlers made a comeback and bowled Australia for, their lowest ever, 47 runs. Smith and Hashim Amla then scored centuries to take Africa home.
South Africa hadn’t lost a test series before yesterday and that itself depicts the great and inspirational leadership of Graeme Smith. He contributed with the bat when required and brought the team to a comfortable position. He scored 234 in an innings victory against a good looking Pakistani side, in 2013, which helped them to level the series.
Graeme Smith was given standing ovation at the Sydney Cricket Ground, when he came out to bat, with an injured hand, to try and save the test match. He was injured by Johnson in the 1st innings and came out to bat last in the 2nd. He faced 16 deliveries before being castled by the same bowler. South Africa lost that match but his effort was widely considered as one of the historic ones. Such captains really motivate the team in the best possible manner and Smith was successful in this.
As he retires from cricket, South Africa will miss a leader of his capability and now it’s time for the younger players to continue Smith’s vigil and dominate world cricket for years to come.
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