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Journalism of Courage
In modern South Africa, captains do not retire, or for that matter, ride off into the sunset with fans waving a tearstained farewell. It is the way the game has been run in the so-called Rainbow Nation since the end of isolation in November 1991: five of the six who have been placed in charge of the side since that tumultuous Eden Gardens re-entry have met an untimely demise.
It could be said that Kepler Wessels at least departed without the acrimony that has met the hyperbole surrounding the departures of Clive Rice, Hansie Cronje, Shaun Pollock and Mark Boucher. Even Gary Kirsten8217;s one-Test holding job was tainted by rancour which saw him happily step down as vice-captain before the side headed for England in 1998.
Barely had rumours of Pollock8217;s sacking surfaced in Durban, on the eve of the World Cup 2003 Super Six game involving India and Kenya, than left-hand opening batsman Graeme Smith8217;s name was touted, then confirmed, as the 8216;8216;new man8217;8217;.
Smith is not the popular choice, yet his role as a future leader had been prophesied five months before the Pollock sacking. Former Test umpire Cyril Mitchley was of the opinion that South Africa would not have far to look for their next Test captain when the time came for Pollock to step down. It was an unsolicited comment on a damp November afternoon at SuperSport Park, Centurion, during a break in play as Jacques Rudolph displayed again his underlying maturity as a batsman.
Sure, the replacement of Pollock by someone such as Smith, who at 22 had not before displayed any obvious leadership qualities, needed certain qualifying, if not quantifying, by the selectors when it was made.
Smith8217;s career is not unusual for a young man from a privileged white middle-class background in one of Johannesburg8217;s fancy tree-lined suburbs. Attending the same high school as former Test captain Ali Bacher and current teammate Neil McKenzie, he had a reputation at the under-13 level and gave the impression of being a batsman with a future. While there were technical flaws in his make up, it was presumed these would be sorted out.
His climb up the ladder was unremarkable. Selection for the South Africa under18 school team came in 1998 and 1999. While he missed out on the 1998 Youth World Cup in South Africa, he did play in the Sri Lanka tournament in 2000, as did Indians Mohammad Kaif and Yuvraj Singh; he scored 348 at an average of 87.
A week after his return, on his first-class debut in Kimberley, the national selectors first noticed Smith8217;s talents when he scored 187 for the United Cricket Board8217;s Invitation XI against Griqualand West. Apart from being the second highest score on debut in South Africa, it was the sort of performance which had Clive Rice, then a national selector, wanting to know more about the young man.
In a sense that UCB XI was the embryo of the emerging talent of a future South African Test squad: Smith, Jacques Rudolph, Robin Peterson and Mfuneko Ngam were in that side. Three are now in England and playing in the first Test.
What was frustrating, yet rewarding in the long-term for Smith was the decision of his home province of Gauteng to not offer him a contract for the 2000/01 summer; after consulting his competitive father, who built a thriving business out of nothing, he found that Western Province had use for his talents.
His Test initiation, against Australia at Newlands, wasn8217;t without controversy. It8217;s wellknown how the Aussies enjoy targeting rookie players to test their character as well as playing ability. It got to Smith, and he rushed to air his views in print.
Yet there8217;s a tough side to him. Nicknamed 8216;8216;Biff8217;8217; at school because of his size, he was once chided by his mother, Janet, when he had pulled out of a cross-country race because of stomach cramps. She gave him a pep talk about not giving up; to get anywhere you have to work through the pain barrier.
So he got over that, and his first Test century was a double against Bangladesh at East London: he became the youngest South African since the return from isolation to score a Test century. At Edgbaston on Thursday, he went one better by becoming the youngest Test captain to score a century.
Captaincy, however, is not a role lightly accepted. Smith learnt the hard way in Dhaka where he failed to bowl Pollock at the start of the India innings in the opening TVS Series game. South Africa were well beaten and flaws in his leadership were all too visible. Against England at Lord8217;s in the NatWest Series final he discovered just how much he had to learn and his inexperience showed.
Indeed, despite his third century in 11 Tests, it should be remembered that Smith8217;s leadership skills have yet to be tested and to say that he has overcome the first acid trial is being as jingoistic as the English media after winning the NatWest Trophy and beating underpowered Zimbabwe in the first Test series.
South Africa8217;s problem is, Shaun Pollock and Makhaya Ntini apart, its untested bowling attack; just how Smith handles the pressure of juggling a weak Test attack in an effort to win a match of this nature is another matter. There is the unmistakable impression that he is the Dudley Nourse style of captain, defensive and inclined to make errors in bowling changes. This being the case, it could be a long, hard apprenticeship for the young batsman now on trial.
