Graeme Smith is a retired South African cricketer who played international cricket between 2002 and 2014. [1] In a career spanning 12 years, he scored centuries (100 or more runs in a single innings) on 27 and 10 occasions in Test and One Day International (ODI) matches respectively. As of October 2016, his tally of 37 international centuries places him fourth among his countrymen, behind Jacques Kallis (62), Hashim Amla (53) and AB de Villiers (45). [2]
Smith made his Test and ODI debuts against Australia during the 2001–02 home series. [3] [4] His maiden century—200 against Bangladesh—came in October 2002. During South Africa's tour of England in 2003, he scored double centuries—277 at Edgbaston and 259 at Lord's—in consecutive Tests. [5] Smith's performances in the season led to him being named one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 2004. [6] His three centuries in consecutive Tests were instrumental in ensuring South Africa's series win against the West Indies in 2005. In Tests, Smith made centuries against all teams except India and Sri Lanka. He was most successful against England with seven centuries. With five double centuries he leads the list among South African cricketers as of May 2014. [7] As of October 2015, Smith's four centuries in the fourth innings of a Test match is the second highest by any player, only behind Younus Khan, who has scored five centuries in the fourth innings of a Test. [8] Of his 27 Test centuries, 25 came while captaining the side, and South Africa lost none of its matches on any such instance. [9]
Smith's first ODI century came in 2005, three years after his international debut. He went on to score four more centuries the same year, the second-most in a calendar year by a South African. [lower-alpha 1] Smith's highest score in ODIs was 141, which he made against England in September 2009. In ODIs, he made centuries against eight different opponents, with three of them scored at venues outside South Africa. [11] Between his debut Twenty20 International and final one in 2005, Smith played 33 matches in the format without scoring a century; his highest score of 89 not out was made against Australia in February 2006. [12]
Symbol | Meaning |
---|---|
* | Remained not out |
† | Man of the match |
‡ | Captained the South African cricket team |
Pos. | Position in the batting order |
Inn. | The innings of the match |
Test | The number of the Test match played in that series |
H/A/N | Venue was at home (South Africa), away or neutral |
Date | Date the match was held, or the starting date of match for Test matches |
Lost | The match was lost by South Africa. |
Won | The match was won by South Africa. |
Drawn | The match ended in a draw. |
S/R | Strike rate during the innings |
No. | Score | Against | Pos. | Inn. | Test | Venue | H/A/N | Date | Result | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 200† | Bangladesh | 1 | 1 | 1/2 | Buffalo Park, East London | Home | 18 October 2002 | Won | [14] |
2 | 151 | Pakistan | 1 | 1 | 2/2 | Newlands Cricket Ground, Cape Town | Home | 2 January 2003 | Won | [15] |
3 | 277‡† | England | 1 | 1 | 1/5 | Edgbaston, Birmingham | Away | 24 July 2003 | Drawn | [16] |
4 | 259‡† | England | 1 | 2 | 2/5 | Lord's, London | Away | 1 August 2003 | Won | [17] |
5 | 132‡ | West Indies | 1 | 1 | 1/4 | New Wanderers, Johannesburg | Home | 12 December 2003 | Won | [18] |
6 | 139‡ | West Indies | 1 | 1 | 4/4 | SuperSport Park, Centurion | Home | 16 January 2004 | Won | [19] |
7 | 125* ‡ | New Zealand | 1 | 4 | 3/3 | Basin Reserve, Wellington | Away | 30 March 2004 | Won | [20] |
8 | 121‡ | Zimbabwe | 1 | 2 | 1/2 | Newlands Cricket Ground, Cape Town | Home | 4 March 2005 | Won | [21] |
9 | 148‡ | West Indies | 1 | 2 | 2/4 | Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain, Trinidad | Away | 10 April 2005 | Won | [22] |
10 | 104‡ | West Indies | 1 | 2 | 3/4 | Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados | Away | 22 April 2005 | Won | [23] |
11 | 126‡ | West Indies | 2 | 1 | 4/4 | Antigua Recreation Ground, St. John's, Antigua | Away | 29 April 2005 | Drawn | [24] |
12 | 133‡ | Pakistan | 1 | 3 | 2/2 | Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore | Away | 8 October 2007 | Drawn | [25] |
13 | 147‡ | West Indies | 1 | 2 | 3/3 | Sahara Stadium Kingsmead, Durban | Home | 10 January 2008 | Won | [26] |
14 | 232‡† | Bangladesh | 2 | 1 | 2/2 | Chittagong Divisional Stadium, Chittagong | Away | 29 February 2008 | Won | [27] |
15 | 107‡ | England | 1 | 3 | 1/4 | Lord's, London | Away | 13 July 2008 | Drawn | [28] |
16 | 154* ‡ | England | 1 | 4 | 3/4 | Edgbaston, Birmingham | Away | 2 August 2008 | Won | [29] |
17 | 157‡† | Bangladesh | 1 | 1 | 1/2 | Chevrolet Park, Bloemfontein | Home | 19 November 2008 | Won | [30] |
18 | 108‡ | Australia | 1 | 4 | 1/3 | WACA Ground, Perth | Away | 20 December 2008 | Won | [31] |
19 | 183‡ | England | 2 | 3 | 3/4 | Newlands Cricket Ground, Cape Town | Home | 5 January 2010 | Drawn | [32] |
20 | 105‡ | England | 1 | 2 | 4/4 | Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg | Home | 15 January 2010 | Won | [33] |
21 | 132‡ | West Indies | 1 | 1 | 2/3 | Warner Park, Basseterre, St. Kitts and Nevis | Away | 18 June 2010 | Drawn | [34] |
22 | 100‡ | Pakistan | 1 | 1 | 1/2 | DSC Cricket Stadium, Dubai | Neutral | 12 November 2010 | Drawn | [35] |
23 | 101* ‡ | Australia | 1 | 4 | 1/2 | Newlands Cricket Ground, Cape Town | Home | 11 November 2011 | Won | [36] |
24 | 115‡† | New Zealand | 2 | 3 | 1/3 | University Oval, Dunedin | Away | 9 March 2012 | Drawn | [37] |
25 | 131‡ | England | 1 | 2 | 1/3 | Kennington Oval, London | Away | 19 July 2012 | Won | [38] |
26 | 122‡ | Australia | 1 | 2 | 2/3 | Adelaide Oval, Adelaide | Away | 24 November 2012 | Drawn | [39] |
27 | 234‡† | Pakistan | 2 | 2 | 2/2 | DSC Cricket Stadium, Dubai | Neutral | 24 October 2013 | Won | [40] |
No. | Score | Against | Pos. | Inn. | S/R | Venue | H/A/N | Date | Result | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 105‡† | England | 1 | 2 | 80.15 | Sahara Oval St George's, Port Elizabeth | Home | 4 February 2005 | Won | [41] |
2 | 115* ‡ | England | 1 | 1 | 87.78 | Buffalo Park, East London | Home | 9 February 2005 | Won | [42] |
3 | 117‡† | Zimbabwe | 1 | 1 | 90.69 | Sahara Stadium Kingsmead, Durban | Home | 27 February 2005 | Won | [43] |
4 | 103‡† | West Indies | 1 | 2 | 100.98 | Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica | Away | 7 May 2005 | Won | [44] |
5 | 134* ‡† | India | 1 | 2 | 108.06 | Eden Gardens, Kolkata | Away | 25 November 2005 | Won | [45] |
6 | 119* ‡† | Australia | 1 | 2 | 95.96 | SuperSport Park, Centurion | Home | 26 February 2006 | Won | [46] |
7 | 103* ‡† | Bangladesh | 2 | 2 | 87.28 | Chittagong Divisional Stadium, Chittagong | Away | 9 March 2008 | Won | [47] |
8 | 141‡ | England | 1 | 2 | 105.22 | SuperSport Park, Centurion | Home | 27 September 2009 | Lost | [48] |
9 | 125 | Sri Lanka | 1 | 1 | 87.41 | New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg | Home | 22 January 2012 | Lost | [49] |
10 | 116† | New Zealand | 2 | 2 | 89.23 | Senwes Park, Potchefstroom | Home | 25 January 2013 | Won | [50] |
Vangipurapu Venkata Sai Laxman is an Indian former international cricketer and a former cricket commentator and pundit. A right-handed batsman known for his elegant stroke play, Laxman played as a middle-order batsman in Test cricket. Laxman is currently the Head of Cricket at the National Cricket Academy (NCA), and the head coach of the India Under-19 and India A teams. Laxman was a member of the Indian team that was one of the joint-winners of the 2002 ICC Champions Trophy, which the title was also shared with Sri Lanka.
Graeme Craig Smith is a South African cricket commentator and former cricketer who played for South Africa in all formats. In 2003, he was appointed captain of the national team, taking over from Shaun Pollock. He held the position of test captain until his retirement in 2014. At 22, he was appointed as South Africa's youngest ever captain. He was the most capped captain ever when he played his 102nd test against England. He is considered as one of South Africa's greatest ever captains having led South Africa to a record 54 test victories.