Captain who fought hard for respect

Way back in November 2004, during the drawn first India-South Africa Test in Kanpur, the fresh-faced but already accomplished Graeme Smith made it a point at a media interaction to offer a firm handshake and a warm 'hello' to every Indian journalist he stumbled on. It was meant to be an ice-breaker, a rare gesture from a touring international captain. Instead, people commented on his enormous hands — maybe the secret of his success as a slip fielder — and wondered if he was trying too hard.

One would have expected the story to be different in Smith's native South Africa. Two successive trips a few years later, however, seemed to confirm he was no darling of the masses or the media. At the same time, it was widely acknowledged that Smith had an immense role to play in pulling his nation's cricket up by the bootstraps following the derailment of the Cronje era.

This love-hate relationship permeated to his cricketing contemporaries, mostly the English and the Aussies but not limited to them. He had run-ins with Stephen Fleming and Matthew Hayden, was termed "witless" by Atherton and repeatedly ridiculed by Shane Warne. Nasser Hussain once pretended to forget his name. Zaheer Khan couldn't stress often enough that Smith was his bunny and that he simply needed to turn up to send the batsman packing.

Smith's public image was like his batting — effective to the point of being grating and scary for his opponents, but devoid of any genuine joie de vivre. Yet these same qualities made him a hard-boiled captain in what was probably the toughest team to lead in world cricket, with its multiple egos, political pressures and racial differences. Smith seemed to hold it all together, often by staying out of the limelight himself, yet wasn't scared to take hard decisions like dropping Lance Klusener or taking on the establishment over selection issues.

Graeme Smith in Tests

	M	Runs	HS	Ave.	100	50	SR
Home	61	3986	200	41.52	10	19	64.00
Away	52	4854	277	53.93	15	19	56.65
Neutral	4	425	234	70.83	2	0	58.29
Total	117	9265	277	48.25	27	38	59.67
In wins	60	5214	259	61.34	18	20	64.45
In defeats	29	1425	88	26.38	-	9	52.71
Drawn	27	2618	277	51.33	9	9	55.57
As captain	109	8659	277	47.83	25	36	59.63
ODIs	197	6989	141	37.98	10	47	80.81
T20Is	33	982	89*	31.67	0	5	127.53
Intl. cricket	347	17236	277	42.34	37	90	69.10

Steve Waugh, one of Smith's early heroes, would agree a dour nature is no deterrent to good leadership. What Smith lacked in charisma, he more than made up for with iron will and unstinted devotion. Purely by the numbers, he has finished as the most stable and successful skipper in the history of the game.

As his career progressed, Smith's penchant for setting goals and living up to them acquired legendary sheen. As the story goes, at the age of 12 he declared to the world, by pinning on his fridge, that he would be South Africa captain. He was captain at 22 in dangerous and desperate times for a South Africa still trying to shrug off the match-fixing taint. It was a visionary decision, naturally derided at the time.

A few months after he became captain in March 2003 following an inglorious World Cup campaign, he met former England captain Mike Brearley, who subsequently wrote, "Smith foresees himself as 'ideally, retiring after 14 years as captain, with a bit of education behind me'." It's uncanny how focused Smith could be.

Most Tests as captain (The top six)

Captain	For	P	W	L	Tied	Drawn	Winning %
Graeme Smith	SA/ICC	108*	53	28	0	27	49.07
Allan Border	Aus	93	32	22	1	38	34.40
Stephen Fleming	NZ	80	28	27	0	25	35.00
Ricky Ponting	Aus	77	48	16	0	13	62.33
Clive Lloyd	WI	74	36	12	0	26	48.64
Steve Waugh	Aus	57	41	9	0	7	71.92

*Cape Town Test vs Australia not included

It's but natural the form and commitment wavered when frequent injuries and family ties took precedence, but Smith the batsman has left behind a wealth of numbers to astonish those seeking to probe his legacy.

A left-hander who can repeatedly swat you down leg doesn't qualify as pretty but England — against whom he reserved his best — and the rest will be happy to see his back. In winning causes, he averaged 61.34 as captain in an unbelievable 109 Tests, and 26.38 in defeats. Importantly, he was a fourth-innings colossus in Tests, averaging 51.96 in 41 innings, with four tons. As South Africa rose to dominate world cricket, Smith the opener was as important a cog in the wheel as Jacques Kallis in the middle.

True to form, though, Smith's decision to retire was immediately attacked by sections of the SA press, which questioned his timing with the team on the brink of defeat in Cape Town. Some even called him a "deserter". Speculation raged on the true provocation behind such a sudden and unceremonious exit. His decision to seek dual Irish citizenship too was panned. Recent lack of form and differences with the board have been raked up. Smith will recognize things have come full circle but he is unlikely to be fazed.

When tempers subside, it will dawn on the cricketing world that this was a captain and batsman who grew into his role in full public view amid immense pressures, and for long periods helped South Africa rise head and shoulders above the opposition. The Smith Era defined permanence and performance. It will be a hard, if not impossible act to follow.

Graeme Smith vs India in Tests & ODIs

		M	I	NO	Runs	HS	Ave.	SR	100	50
Tests	in India:	7	12	-	431	73	35.91	57.01	-	3
	in SA:	8	15	1	556	94	39.71	64.65	-	5
	Total:	15	27	1	987	94	37.96	61.07	-	8
ODIs	in India:	5	5	1	225	134*	56.25	98.68	1	-
	in SA:	9	9	-	236	79	26.22	71.51	-	2
	Neutral:	4	3	-	7	4	2.33	29.16	-	-
	Total:	18	17	1	468	134*	29.25	80.41	1	2

Captaincy Record vs India

	Played	Won	Lost	NR/Drawn	Winning %
Tests	15	6	5	4	40.00
ODIs	17	11	5	1	68.75

Stats: Rajesh Kumar

Share it Please

Tweet

Shweta Pandey

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation.