South Africa Cricket Players
Graeme Smith
Wisden Cricketer of the Year 2004
Graeme Craig Smith (born 1 February 1981 in Johannesburg) became the youngest ever cricketer to captain the South African cricket team at the age of 22 years when he was selected to take over from Shaun Pollock after the 2003 cricket World Cup. He grew up in Houghton, Johannesburg and was a prolific run scorer in school cricket at the King Edward School in Johannesburg. He made his Test debut for South Africa in 2002 in Cape Town against Australia. He displayed strong character and mental strength in that match by scoring a half century. He showed his talent in the tour of England in 2003 when he made double centuries in consecutive Test matches: a national record of 277 at Edgbaston Stadium, and 259 at Lord's Cricket Ground. His score of 259 at Lord's is, in fact, the highest score at the ground by a foreign player. The previous record was 254 by Sir Donald Bradman. He is also an occasional off spin bowler with the ability to take wickets and has shown an ability to contain batsmen with low full tosses at the death in ODI matches. However, Smith is often regarded as a 'hothead' by some in the cricket world, as he has been known for refusing to acknowledge mistakes, challenging umpire's decisions and receiving fines for dissent. Smith was also once accused by West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo of racist abuse aimed at Bravo.
