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Full name Graeme Craig Smith
Born February 1, 1981, Johannesburg, Transvaal
Current age 27 years 168 days
Major teams South Africa, Africa XI, Cape Cobras, Gauteng, Hampshire Cricket Board, ICC World XI, Rajasthan Royals, Somerset, Western Province
Batting style Left-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm offbreak

In March 2003, at the age of 22, Graeme Smith became South Africa's youngest-ever captain, when he took over from Shaun Pollock following the disastrous World Cup campaign. A tall aggressive left-hand opener, Smith had few leadership credentials - and barely a handful of internationals under his belt - but for a nation eager for a fresh start after the disasters of the Hansie Cronje affair, Smith was clearly made of the right stuff. The selectors' faith was amply justified on South Africa's tour of England in 2003, when Smith scored back-to-back Test double-centuries - a national-record 277 at Edgbaston, and a match-winning 259 at Lord's - to put his side in firm command of the five-Test series. Smith had quickly settled in at the highest level, right from the moment he took Matthew Hayden's invective on the chin to score a battling half-century on his Test debut. Until his appointment, Smith's career had been hampered to a certain degree by South Africa's controversial quota system. His Test debut was delayed when Ashwell Prince was selected for the first Test against Australia in 2001-02, and he also missed out on original selection for the 2003 World Cup, although he later joined the squad when Jonty Rhodes cracked a finger.

Smith woke up to the harsh life of international cricket with a jolt in 2004. Reality bit fiercest on the subcontinent, where a declining South African side lost Test series to India and Sri Lanka. There was also a run of 11 defeats in 12 one-day internationals, the start of an ultimately fruitless struggle with England, and personal humiliation after some wily mind games from Stephen Fleming in Auckland. Yet for the most part, Smith continued to crunch runs aplenty. There was one minor epic: an unbeaten 125 to square the series in New Zealand that was made of granite. Smith yielded to no man physically, but he could be brought to his knees by more insidious means. By the end of the year, as Matthew Hoggard's in-swinger had him fumbling around his front pad time after time, even the runs had started to dry up. But he roared back to form in the series against West Indies in 2005, when he piled on three consecutive hundreds, and became the first captain since 1977 to finish a Caribbean tour without losing a game.

He captained South Africa to a thrilling 3-2 one-day series win over Australia at home in perhaps the greatest cracker of all. In a record-breaking contest between bat and ball, Smith powered his side's reply to Australia's 434 for 4 by hitting 90 from 55 and adding 187 for the second wicket with Herschelle Gibbs in just 20.1 overs. South Africa eventually won the match in 49.1 overs and Smith had a suitable boost going into the three-Test series. Torn ligaments in his right ankle, sustained during a running injury in Knysna, ruled Smith out for 12 weeks but he was retained as South Africa's captain for the Champions Trophy in India. Scores of 5 and 10 in the first Test loss against India at Johannesburg took his tally for the last ten Tests to 465 at 24.47, with just two half-centuries in 19 innings, but Smith bounced back hard with three consecutive fifties to take South Africa to a come-from-behind series win. In the series against Pakistan right after that, Smith struggled for runs, but crafted a crucial 64 at Cape Town that was worth a century. He hit two half-centuries in a 3-1 rout of Pakistan in the one-day leg of the series. In his first World Cup, Smith captained South Africa to the semis, where they were brutally hammered by eventual winners Australia. Personally, Smith had a good tournament, with 443 runs. After leading South Africa to a 2-0 Test-series rout against the touring New Zealanders, his side fashioned another come-from-behind series win against West Indies. On the tour of Bangladesh that followed, he entered the record books with an opening stand of 415 with Neil McKenzie during the second Test in Chittagong. He signed for the Rajasthan Royals in the first season of the IPL, though injury kept him out of the final.
Andrew Miller/Jamie Alter June 2008