20 facts about Graeme Smith: South Africa’s colossal former captain

Meaty, muscular and mighty, that’s Graeme Smith, who loomed even larger than all that as South Africa’s colossus of a captain. His achievements as a batsman were significant, but the most important monument to his career is the fact that under Smith, the confidence of South Africans, both within and outside of the national team and its structures, had been rebuilt. Smith’s leadership and his batting were all about being direct and upfront. He played a vital knock historic 434-run chase against Australia in 2006 which was one of the high points of his cricketing career.

1. Birth:

Graeme Smith was born on 1st February, 1981 in Johannesburg, South Africa. He was educated at King Edward VII School.

2. Under-19:

He played three Tests multi-day and seven one day matches for South Africa Under-19s, of which five were during the Under 19 Cricket World Cup in Sri Lanka in 2000. He emerged as the top scorer in the tournament.

3. South African Cricketer of the Year:

Smith was awarded the South African Cricketer of the Year award for his performances in the 2001–02 South African cricket season.

4. Young Captain: 

Graeme Smith was 22 years, 82 days and only eight test matches old when he was handed the South African Test captaincy, making him country’s youngest Test captain and number fourth on the list of youngest Test captains all over the world.

5. Most Tests as Captain: 

Smith holds the world record for captaining in most Tests that is 109 matches; he has been at the helm of affairs from 2003 to 2014.

6. Most wins as Captain: 

He also holds the world record of highest number of wins in Test matches as skipper with 53 wins.

7. Most Centuries by a Captain in Wins: 

Out of Smith’s 27 centuries in Test cricket, 15 came as a captain in Test match wins, the most number of centuries by a captain in wins.

8. Fastest to Milestones: 

Smith is the fastest South African to reach 1000, 3000, 4000, 6000, and 7000 test runs.

9. Most ODI Matches: 

Smith led Proteas in 150 ODI matches, most by a South African captain.

10. Debut and Retirement against the same opposition:

Graeme Smith made his test debut against Australia in 2002 at Cape Town and played his last match at the same venue against the same opposition in 2014.

11. Controversy:

During a Test series in 2005, West Indian all-rounder Dwayne Bravo accused Smith of directing a racist comment at him. At the subsequent hearing, no evidence could be found and charges were dropped against Smith, who immediately demanded an apology from Bravo. Bravo, backed by the West Indies Cricket Board, refused to do so.

12. ODI Stats:

Smith played 197 ODIs for his country scoring 6989 runs at an average of 37.98 with a career best of 141. He made 10 tons and 47 fifties.

13.Test Stats:

He played 117 matches scoring 9265 runs at an average of 48.25 with a career best of 277. He made 27 tons and 38 fifties.

14. No ICC Silverware:

Through all his Test triumphs, though, Smith still couldn’t get his hands on a chunk of ICC silverware, a prize that has eluded South Africa since 1998.

15. T20Is:

Smith played 33 T20Is scoring 982 runs at an average of 31.67 with a top score of 89 not out. He made 5 fifties in the shortest format.

16. IPL:

In 2008, Graeme Smith played in the inaugural Indian Premier League for Rajasthan Royals. His opening partnership with Indian player Swapnil Asnodkar achieved significant success. Rajasthan Royals won the first ever edition of the popular league.

17. Stint with Surrey:

On 1st November 2012, Graeme Smith was announced as the new captain of Surrey County Cricket Club starting in the 2013 season. He received his county cap at lunch on day 1 of the first championship fixture of the 2013 season against Somerset.

18. ICC World XI captain:

Although initially regarded as an inexperienced captain, Smith’s growth and the respect he earned worldwide in the role was evidenced when he was selected to captain the ICC World XI in the ICC Super Series Test Match between the ICC World XI and Australia in October 2005.

19. World Record partnership:

During the second Test against Bangladesh at Chittagong in begun on 29 February 2008 Smith (who scored 232) and Neil McKenzie (226) put on a world record 415 for the first wicket.The partnership beat the previous first-wicket record of 413 which had been set in 1956 by Vinoo Mankad and Pankaj Roy.

20. ODI Captaincy resignation:

After South Africa lost to New Zealand in the quarter-finals of the 2011 World Cup, Smith resigned as ODI and Twenty20 captain. He was replaced by AB de Villiers.