Graeme Smith's debut in International Cricket
It’s hard to believe that Graeme Smith made his debut at the age of 21 when you consider the fact that he was made captain when he was just 22. All he had was 12 months of International exposure when he was handed over the reigns, and thus in that process, he became the country’s youngest captain. He first played three Tests and seven ODIs for the South African under-19 team, scoring a fifty in one of the Tests and five fifties in the ODIs thus making people take notice of him. But his breakthrough moment was when he was named the South African Cricketer of the Year for his excellent peformances in the 2001-02 domestic season.
As a result of all this, he was brought in to the Test side to face Australia and made his debut at Cape Town. Andrew Hall and Dewald Pretorius also made their Test debuts alongside Smith. He came up against possibly the best pace attack in the world at that time that comprised of Brett Lee, Glenn Mcgrath and Jason Gillespie, and he batted at number 3 in that game. Early loss of Gibbs meant that Smith had to come in as early as in the fourth over and the debutant couldn’t handle the heat. He lasted just 9 deliveries and got out, making 3 in his short stay.
But Smith was a determined young man and he wanted to make his chance count. He came out in the second innings when his team was trailing by more than 100 runs and played a composed knock of 68 facing 147 deliveries. South Africa lost that Test dramatically, but they unearthed a special player. Since then he became a regular and immediately he made his ODI debut as well against Australia during the same tour. He scored 41 on his debut and followed it up with two back to back brisk fifties thus cementing his place for the World Cup that was played in his country in 2003.
His first Test ton was a double ton and it was scored against Bangladesh. He had a penchant for double tons as he also made two back to back 200 plus scores against England when he toured there for the first time. Many eyebrows were raised when he was appointed captain after South Africa’s disastrous World Cup campaign, but he proved them all wrong as he became one of the best captains in World Cricket. An iconic moment in his career happened in 2008 when South Africa defeated Australia in their own backyard. In that series, in one of the Tests, Smith walked out to bat with a broken arm and earned the respect of the entire cricketing fraternity. Injuries at the later stages of his career played a huge part in him retiring at the age of 33. But without a doubt, he created a legacy before calling it quits.