On June 1, 2002 Hansie Cronje died in a shock plane crash, he was 32. He should have been remembered as a tenacious, aggressive, astute and inspirational player and captain.
Instead he perished in disgrace, a fraud that took bribes and put currency ahead of his country.
Cronje was appointed South African captain aged 24 in 1994. South Africa fashioned an excellent record under Cronje. They won 99 out of 138 one day internationals and had 26 wins and 16 draws in 53 Tests
South Africa after years in the wilderness was a competitive and relevant force again.
There are a lot of similarities in the careers of Hansie Cronje and Graeme Smith, who yesterday announced his retirement.
Smith of course is not a cheat and an infinitely better batsman. However when Smith was appointed Test captain at the age of 22, in 2002, he faced similar challenges to that of Cronje.
South Africans’ faith in the integrity of game had been shattered by Cronje. According to Telford Vice on Cricinfo that faith wasn’t fully restored under Shaun Pollock’s captaincy which he described as “sincere but undemonstrative.”
Smith like Cronje though was a bullish performer. Not immediately popular he led by example making 277 and 259 against England in his third and fourth Tests as captain.
The latter innings was at Lords and resulted in an innings victory for South Africa.
His consistency thereafter was excellent. Smith ends his career as the most prolific scoring captain in Test history and with a fine average of just under 49.
Smith scored 4,854 runs away from home at 53.93 and converted 42% of his half-centuries into centuries.
In one day internationals Smith scored 6,989 runs at 37.98 and in Twenty20 cricket he averaged 31.67 with a strike rate of a little over 123.
Smith wasn’t a classical batsman but savage on anything short and wide of the off stump and pitched on the pads around middle and leg. He always played with a positive intent and got every ounce of talent out of himself.
As a captain, Smith wasn’t a tactical genius like Michael Vaughan and Stephen Fleming but his personality, similar to his batting, imposed itself on the entire South Africa team.
South Africa played with aggression and consistency under Smith and in 2012 they became the first country to be ranked number one in all three formats of the game.
As a Test captain Smith led his country a world record 109 times. They beat every country in a Test series at least once.
In Twenty20 games under Smith, South Africa had a credible 13-5 record and they won 92 out of 150 one day internationals.
Perhaps the only disappointments of his career were the failure to win the one day World Cup and his Test batting average against Australia.
In the one day game South Africa has never been short of talent, but was thrashed in the 2007 semi-final and flopped in the group stages four years earlier when hosting the tournament.
Smith’s Test batting average against Australia, often the best side in the world during his career, was only just above 30, a disappointing outcome over the course of 22 matches.
However the highlight of Smith’s career was leading South Africa to a series win over Australia in the summer of 2008/2009, Australia’s first loss in a home series since 1993.
Smith scored 108 in the national record chase of 418 at the WACA in Perth and then 62 and 75 in the Melbourne Test which sealed the series. In 2006 Smith had made 90 of 55 balls when South Africa chased down a world record 438 against Australia in a one day game too.
In the Sydney Test of the 2008/2009 series Smith broke his hand and retired hurt while on 30 in the first innings. In the second innings on day five, South Africa, with only a wicket left had 8.2 overs to try and salvage a draw.
Smith came out to bat and stubbornly survived 26 minutes and 17 balls before being bowled by Mitchell Johnson 10 balls shy of saving the game.
Those courageous three runs sum up Graeme Smith, country first! Had Cronje not taken the money then maybe we would never have heard of Smith.
He would have almost certainty led South Africa for many more years and possibly not have been aboard that fatal cargo plane.
Of the two young prodigies Smith’s heart was the only one always in the right place.
Build your own fantasy cricket team and put it to the test with Draftstars daily fantasy competitions. Pick your match, pick your team and watch the points roll in to take out cash prizes on each match. What are you really gambling with? Set a deposit limit.
The Aussie made 34 off 28 as his team beat Rajasthan Royals by 36 runs.
Glamorgan's Zain-ul-Hassan was hit on the pads as the opposition turned to the umpire to appeal for LBW - but while everyone was distracted,…
Should this have been out?
Glenn Maxwell's horror IPL 2024 has ended with another nightmare evening in RCB's playoffs loss to the Rajasthan Royals.
Glenn Maxwell's IPL torment is over after the out-of-sorts Australian star's wretched season - and the campaign of his Royal Challengers Bengaluru outfit -…
There were a few Aussies facing off in the IPL Qualifier 1 between the Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad. KKR pacer Mitch Starc…
