Graeme Smith - Captain no-nonsense

Profiles / Geoffrey Riddle / 16 October 2007 / Leave a Comment

The Racing Post's Geoffrey Riddle takes a look at one of the most influential players in the modern game ahead of the Pakistan ODI series

Geoffrey Riddle uses www.statsonsport.com for his anlaysis.

When looking at the captaincy of Graeme Smith, it is necessary to take into account that at 22, he became the youngest skipper in South African history in 2003.

His early decisions therefore, cannot be characteristic of how he leads the his XI now, and probably more importantly, during his side's five-match ODI series with Pakistan which starts with a day/nighter on Thursday.

Smith has caught a virus and will probably miss the first clash in Lahore, but such is the presence of character in the Johannesburg left-hander, that the team is likely to play in his mould.

Those who lean on the murkier side of trading will have already seen a runs match bet between Smith and Herschelle Gibbs for the series opener and will be licking your lips at taking full advantage of Smith's illness news, should he lead the side out. Smith is also currently trading as 4.0 favourite to be the tourists' top batsman.

Unsurprisingly, for a side that holds the record run-chase in history, South Africa are a dab hand at chasing down totals. Smith and Gibbs shared a 187-run second-wicket partnership to gun down Australia's 434 at the Wanderers almost 18 months ago. It will hardly startle you to know therefore, that of the 30 times South Africa have won the toss abroad since Smith took the reins of the ODI side, the Proteas have batted first just 12 times. This year, that tally reads once from six.

South Africa have a very good record against Pakistan having won 32 of the 47 matches between the two going back to 1992. That can be broken down to 16 from 28 when Pakistan have batted first, although surprisingly, 16 from 19 when South Africa have been first up.

South Africa won the five-match series in Pakistan in 2003 but the home side batted first in all five contests. Interestingly, the tourists lost the first two clashes in Lahore by eight runs and 42 runs. The Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore is the scene of the first two match-ups and if there is any hoodoo at all, Pakistan need to take full advantage of this if their supporters are going to get any change out of their current quote of 2.16 to win the curtain-raiser.

Lahore is a decent batting strip with an average first-innings total of 240.3 going back to 1978. In the last seven years however, the teams batting first have averaged 274 and this looks the par score in the first two fixtures.

Smith is bound to know this, and with the resurgent form of Jacques Kallis a real blessing, he will know that 260-280 is well within his side's compass.

Kallis stroked 421 runs from his four innings during the recent Test series between the two sides - 156 runs more than his nearest rival for top series runscorer honours, Younis Khan.
Smith however, came third in the charts with 246 and his side will need his bludgeoning willow-wielding skills if they are to come through this series victorious.

Smith is the cornerstone of his side's batting performance. The skipper played all ten matches at the World Cup in West Indies and although Kallis outscored him, and from one game less, it was Smith's bully-boy tactics that set up his more refined friend for those scores.

South Africa need Smith if they are to land the series odds in this one and although they may lose in Lahore once more, history has shown that they can be lead from defeat by the cocky captain.

For more information about the upcoming Pakistan v South Africa series go to:

www.cricinfo.com