This season has been a tough one for cricket, having been asked to say goodbye to some of its brightest stars.
India’s batting legend Sachin Tendulkar retired after 24 glittering years in the game, England off-spinner Graeme Swann hung his boots midway through the Ashes in Australia after his troublesome elbow made bowling increasingly difficult while South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis too called time on one of the greatest yet highly under-rated careers.
And now, it’s the turn of longtime Proteas skipper Graeme Smith to end his nearly 12-year career in which he has led a world class team, and kept its stature intact, for most part of his playing life at the top level.
The timing of Smith’s retirement is good because of two reasons. Firstly, it gives AB de Villiers time to get his bearings right as captain in Tests and ODIs before the 2015 World Cup. And secondly, the runs had started to dry up and Smith wasn’t looking as confident as before.
He averaged a healthy 50.07 in 2013 but that average was down to a massive double century against Pakistan in Dubai. The rest of the time, he was getting starts and getting out. And in the current series against Australia, his technique has been torn apart by Mitchell Johnson.
But that doesn’t take anything away from a player who has amassed 9,265 runs from 117 Tests and 6,989 in 197 ODIs.
More than the runs, it’s the way he has managed to make the Proteas believe in themselves and behave like champions that has been remarkable.
What is also unique about Smith is that he has been a captain for almost his entire career. He made his Test debut in 2002 and after just eight Tests and 22 ODIs, was asked to lead the team in the aftermath of a failed World Cup challenge at home under the leadership of Shaun Pollock.
A 22-year-old Test captain, leading a hugely talented and experienced bunch – with a stalwart like Jacques Kallis around – was a big risk that the team management and selectors took but it worked out brilliantly.
‘Biff’ ushered in one of the most successful eras in South African cricket. He has taken Proteas to the No1 Test ranking and maintained that position for 19 months.
Under his reign, the South Africans haven’t lost a Test series in five years, home or away (a run that might snap at the end of the Cape Town Test against the Aussies).
It’s no coincidence that he has led the world’s best batsman, bowler and all-rounder at the same time. To top it all, despite an over-reliance on shots on the leg side, Smith has thwarted the top bowlers in the business for a dozen years.
Smith wasn’t the most obvious choice for captaincy but made the position his own by bringing out the best from his players and leading by example with the bat at the top of the order. And for that understated effectiveness, Smith will be sorely missed.
