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Home › Teams › South Africa › Players › Graeme Smith

Graeme Smith

Full Name
Graeme Craig Smith
Born
01-02-1981 Johannesburg, Transvaal, South Africa
Current Age
41 years old
Major Teams
South Africa, ICC World XI, African XI, Rajasthan Royals, Pune Warriors
Batting Style
Left-hand bat
Bowling Style
Off-break
Graeme Smith

Photos: Graeme Smith

  • Infographic: MS Dhoni equals Ricky Ponting’s tally of most international matches as captain

    Infographic: MS Dhoni equals Ricky Ponting’s tally of most international matches as captain

  • Video: When South Africa choked Australia

    Video: When South Africa choked Australia

  • Happy Birthday Graeme Smith

    Happy Birthday Graeme Smith

  • AB de Villiers shines brightest in the starry Cricket South Africa awards night

    AB de Villiers shines brightest in the starry Cricket South Africa awards night

Videos: Graeme Smith

  • Tendulkar to play under Ponting's captaincy in Trescothick's All-Time XI

    Tendulkar to play under Ponting's captaincy in Trescothick's All-Time XI

  • VIDEO: Glenn McGrath bowling yorkers; batters have no answer

    VIDEO: Glenn McGrath bowling yorkers; batters have no answer

  • Video: Graeme Smith, Jonty Rhodes, Jonathan Trott talk about their South African connection

    Video: Graeme Smith, Jonty Rhodes, Jonathan Trott talk about their South African connection

  • VIDEO: Graeme Smith bats with broken arm against Australia

    VIDEO: Graeme Smith bats with broken arm against Australia

Graeme Smith Biography

Few can deny that Graeme Smith stood through his playing days like a colossus in front of his troops, charging headlong into the enemy lines, blazing a trail for his worthy men to follow. Every aspect of the man was eloquent with the much discussed and rarely witnessed trait of leading from the front. His giant frame could be made out as he stood in the slips under the green cap, active, confident and eternally optimistic. One look at the field was enough to gauge who was in charge. He was out there to win, by playing hard and tough — sometimes perhaps a bit too tough.
 
As batsman it was pure substance. The drives were clubbed without any semblance of the caress. The closing of the bat face to force the ball through the on side couldrarely be termed elegant. The grip remained incorrigibly bottom-handed. He hacked the ball with a degree of brutality that sometimes seemed less than humane. The focus was strictly on making runs, not an inch of pragmatism sacrificed for style. Perhaps that is why Smith did not enjoy the same amount of press and plaudits like the several brilliant men with whom he shared the dressing room, men like Jacques Kallis, Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers.
 
But yet, if we look at the trail of numbers left along the way his massive boots did tread, we find that Smith is easily among some of the all-time greats. The pile of his runs is rendered even more impressive because many of them are worth their weights in gold.
 
His gum-chewing countenance and the grammatically questionable batting technique often did not project the impression of a master of crisis. But Smith was one of the best fourth innings batsmen the world has ever known.
 
In all, he scored 9,265 runs scored at 48.25, with 27 hundreds; as many as 1,614 of them were amassed in the fourth innings at an incredible average of 50.44. It came down several notches after the last dismal series against Australia, but still stands in the zone of greatness. In successful chases, this figure goes up to levels of the inconceivable. Smith had been part of successful fourth innings pursuits in 22 matches, in 21 of them as opener. He scored 1,141 runs in these efforts at a mind-boggling average of 87.76, with four hundreds and a strike rate of 69.3. This implies that when chasing in the fourth innings, Smith came out all guns blazing and most often the guns continue to blaze till no opponent was left standing.
 
This appetite for impossible chases was not limited just to the Test matches. In that famous ODI against Australia at Johannesburg, as South Africa launched their audacious assault on the target of 435, Smith blitzkrieged his way to a 55-ball 90, adding 187 with Herschelle Gibbs for the second wicket in 20.5 overs. He has scored 2,705 runs in 58 successful chases in ODIs, at an average of 55.20 and a strike rate of 85.
 
As captain his record is very nearly unbelievable. He played just 8 Tests as one of the boys before he was hauled into the hot seat as a young lad of 22. From then on, he led the next 109 Tests — more than anyone in the history of the game. And he won 53 of them — once again more than any skipper has ever done.
 
However, it was not only image of the destroying batsman with sledgehammer subtlety that fully traced Smith’s characteristics. There was another fourth innings effort, at SCG with a broken hand, that did not amount to more than three runs and was played in a losing cause.Yet it painted his picture in stark colours of blood and bravado.
 
He retired early, perhaps too early according to some. However, the period between 2002 and 2014 can very well go down as the Graeme Smith era of Protean cricket.

Arunabha Sengupta

Graeme Smith Batting & Fielding Averages

Career M In R NO HS Avg BF SR 100s 50s 4s 6s Ct St
Test 117 205 9265 13 277 48.25 15525 59.67 27 38 1165 23 169 0
ODIs 197 194 6989 10 141 37.98 8648 80.81 10 47 788 44 105 0
T20s 33 33 982 2 89* 31.67 770 127.5 0 5 123 26 18 0
World Cup 20 20 747 1 91 39.31 865 86.35 0 6 84 6 15 0

Graeme Smith Bowling Averages

Career M B R W Avg EC SR 5WI 10WM BBI BBM
Test 117 1418 885 8 110.6 3.744 177 0 0 2/56 2/56
ODIs 197 1026 951 18 52.83 5.561 57.00 0 0 3/30 3/30
T20s 33 24 57 0 -- 14.25 -- 0 0 0/3 0/3
World Cup 20 156 162 4 40.50 6.230 39.00 0 -- 2/56 3/30

Graeme Smith Career statistics

Test Debut

South Africa v Australia at Newlands, Cape Town, March 8, 2002

Last Test

South Africa v Australia at Newlands, Cape Town, March 1, 2014

ODI Debut

South Africa v Australia at Springbok Park, Bloemfontein, March 30, 2002

Last ODI

South Africa v Pakistan at St George's Park, Port Elizabeth, November 27, 2013

T20 Debut

South Africa v New Zealand at New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg, October 21, 2005

Last T20

South Africa v Australia at New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg, October 16, 2011

News ON Graeme Smith

Top Three Left-handers To Create Incredible Records In Cricket

There have been many left-handers in the world who have achieved major success. From Barack Obama to Rafael Nadal, there is no end to ...

Graeme Smith Dons New Hat After South Africa Pulled Away From Australia ODIs

Former South Africa captain Graeme Smith has been appointed commissioner of the country's new T20 league and has been entrusted with ...

IPL 2022: Rajasthan Royals Starting To Get Benefit From Impact Bowlers, Says Graeme Smith

Rajasthan's bowling has lived up to its pre-tournament billing, as seen from a clinical performance to bowl out Royal Challengers ...

Former South Africa Skipper Graeme Smith Cleared Of Racism Allegations

After a full arbitration process, advocates Ngwako Maenetje SC and Michael Bishop cleared the former skipper of all the three account ...

IPL 2022: Greame Smith Backs Yuzuvendra Chahal To Break Dwayne Bravo, Harshal Patel’s Record in Indian Premier League

Former South Africa captain Graeme Smith backed Yuzvendra Chahal to break Dwayne Bravo and Harshal Patel's record of most wickets in an ...

IPL 2022: Graeme Smith Says Mental Strain of Captaining India May Have Taken a Toll on Mumbai Indian Skipper Rohit Sharma

IPL 2022 is also the first season Sharma is captaining Mumbai after taking over as the India skipper across all formats.

More News on Graeme Smith

Features ON Graeme Smith

    IPL Controversies: Sourav Ganguly, Shane Warne engage in furious war of words in inaugural edition

    Sourav Ganguly and Shane Warne's relation hit a low point during the inaugural IPL in 2008.

    An ODI XI of captains since 2000

    What if we have an ODI XI of successful captains since 2000. Imagine the likes of Sourav Ganguly, MS Dhoni, Ricky Ponting, Shahid ...

    15 memorable quotes on Sourav Ganguly by cricket legends

    On the occasion of Ganguly's 45th birthday, we present some exceptional quotes from the greats of this game.

    ICC Champions Trophy 2017 Final: Pakistan have shown that it is more than capable of surprises, says Graeme Smith

    "I hope we see a closer game of cricket than we did in the two semi-finals, as well as a mutual respect and enjoyment of the spectacle ...

    South Africa batting needs to find momentum in ICC Champions Trophy 2017, feels Graeme Smith

    Players like Faf du Plessis and David Miller are excellent at using their feet, but it’ll come down to their execution on Sunday.

    ICC Champions Trophy 2017: Graeme Smith lauds South Africa’s professional performance against Sri Lanka

    "Sri Lanka is a potential banana skin for any side, with the energy and skill its side has, and it was noticeable that the track wasn’t ...

    More Features on Graeme Smith


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