England vs South Africa - A long way for Smith since that World Cup trauma - Opinion
Considering the stuff that was floating around the South African skipper for the past year and a half, it is worth considering that he has achieved something quite remarkable by toppling http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c56013 in the Oval Test. This was after all, a feat by a sportsman
who was handed over the responsibility of captaining his side at the age of just 22. Smith has since then, been one of the most controversial captains of his time, as South Africa continued to slip down the ranks in the early part of his tenure and have not
won a global tournament since 1998. That was http://www.senore.com/Cricket/GC-Smith-c1473’s biggest challenge. Winning a global tournament for a side which continues to choke under pressure was the most significant hurdle.
For Smith it was never smooth sailing as under his leadership he had to embark on a task to build up http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757’s confidence which had been shattered since 1998. The failings were strangely inevitable, as the Proteas crashed out of the 2004, 2006 and 2009
Champions Trophies and also failed to cross the line in the 2007 and 2011 Cricket World Cups. The latest of these series of failings pinched Graeme Smith the hardest, and haunted him to the point of lamenting over his role as captain.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754 managed to beat South Africa by a stunning 49 runs at Mirpur in the Quarter Finals of the tournament. Prior to this South Africa had topped their group and had the distinction of bowling every side out in their allotted fifty overs. For Smith,
it brought back the same shivers and quivers that his predecessors had to bear with. Cronje’s reputation in tatters over match fixing allegations after his semi-final stint, whereas Pollock’s undemonstrative leadership was inundated in Durban 2003. For http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Smith-c90598
however, the South African media, the numerous press conferences and die hard South African fans looking at him with bloodthirsty eyes as if to say, “ Oh Biff! What have you done! ……” was stingy to the ear.
This psychological bloat failed to evade him for the most part of six months since the World Cup. His confidence was on a low, he lacked the penetrative ability to build runs and his feat of nailing http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 in a record breaking final of the Standard Bank
Series in 2006, was considered by his fans as a thing of the past. Smith only broke the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758, which helped him get out of this slump. The man acknowledged, that from
then onwards, it was a case of rebuilding once again.
Smith does deserve all the credit. Captaining a side which occasionally has a brain drain is and never was easy. The Proteas now confront their biggest challenge by taking on the English at home in the 2012 Investec Series. For Smith to notch up a ton and
guide his troops to a magnificent innings victory at the Oval has meant that his series could be divinely ordained for him. Should he attain the number one Test side rank for his side, Smith will be relieved of the ignominy of being a leader who is known to
choke. For the man from Transvaal, this fact stokes motivation like nothing else.
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