Smith, Ntini: record-breakers
Brad Morgan
5 August 2003
Just how good has Graeme Smith been in the Test series against England? Put it this way, the B-word has been used. Yes, that one: Bradman. South Africa's cricket captain is challenging the game's greatest player for the highest batting aggregate in a Test series, and he still has three more Tests in which to better The Don's tally of 974 runs.
In only two matches, Smith has scored an incredible 621 runs at an average of 207. And he has led the Proteas to a one-nil series lead over an England team rated as very tough.
After rain prevented South Africa taking advantage of a massive first innings of 594 for 5 declared in the first Test, the Proteas had better luck in the second Test, again scoring heavily in the first innings – a South African Test record 682 for 6 declared - before dismissing the shell-shocked English twice for victory by an innings and 92 runs at the home of cricket, Lords.
Leading by
example
Smith was to the fore in both matches, scoring a South African record 277 in the first innings of the first Test, before following that up with 85 off only 70 deliveries as the Proteas chased quick runs. In the second Test he picked up where he had left off, making 259 to put Michael Vaughan's team in a hole from which they were never able to extricate themselves.
But the second Test wasn't about Smith alone. In fact, the South African captain shared the man of the match award, and it was significant with whom he shared it: fast bowler Makhaya Ntini. The fast bowler from Border stole the headlines from Smith after capturing five wickets in each innings to become the first South African to take 10 wickets in a Test at Lords.
With fellow fast bowler Dewald Pretorius sidelined with an injury after sending down only four overs, more pressure than usual was thrust on Ntini to bowl South Africa to victory, and he responded in the best possible way.
Even more than his 10-wicket haul, the significance of Ntini's achievement lay in the colour of his skin, because a black man had become a cornerstone of South Africa's cricket team, and more than a cornerstone, a leader too.
Bowling backbone
It was bigger than a victory by the Proteas over England; it was a victory for Ntini over the "old way", a success for transformation in South Africa.
In recent times the Proteas were spearheaded by the brilliant opening attack of Allan Donald and Shaun Pollock. Now Donald has retired, and while Pollock remains, he is not the strike bowler that he once was, although he remains one of the finest bowlers in the game.
The mantle of wicket taker, partnership breaker, attack leader, now belongs to the 26-year-old Ntini, who is fitness and passion personified. Following his 10-wicket haul, he moved up to a career-high sixth in the Test bowling rankings, within striking distance of the two
players directly above.
Back to Smith. Only 12 Tests into his career, he is ranked 12th in the batting rankings. He has played 17 innings and has already scored 1 258 runs at an average of 78.62.
It is his tremendous powers of concentration that have most impressed the game's experts, and it is clear for all to see in his career statistics: he has already scored four centuries and only three fifties, but more impressively, he has turned three of his four centuries into double tons.
In Bradman's company
His successive double centuries against England were only the seventh instance in history that a player has achieved that remarkable feat. Three of the previous six instances of it being performed belong to Sir Donald Bradman, two to Wally Hammond, and the other to Indian Vinod Kambli.
That, however, is not the last bow to Smith's string, because he is captain of the South African team too, a side that was expected to struggle
with a new captain and a number of players retired since the 2003 World Cup, at which the Proteas failed to perform up to expectations.
There was round criticism of Smith and his team as they began their tour of the United Kingdom, with the British press having a good go at the Proteas and their inexperienced young leader. Now, though, there is a resounding chorus of praise for Smith and his squad.
The Cricinfo Wisden website, an authority on the game, commented after South Africa’s comprehensive victory in the second Test: "In Graeme Smith, South Africa have unearthed a true hero, a man who once and for all can purge the country of its embarrassing obsession with Hansie Cronje. The man was selected for precisely that reason, to stride forward with a clean record, and his self-assurance has been infectious."
South Africa are only two matches into their five-Test series, wanting to wipe out
memories of 1998, when they won by 10 wickets at Lords in the second Test but went on to lose two of the next three matches and thus the series, two-one.
England can still come back. But Smith, who has been called "more Australian than the Australians" by some, brings a won't-back-down attitude to the game that could make it hugely difficult for Michael Vaughan and co. to turn things around.
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