Abu Dhabi: At a time when South African cricket is undergoing a transition, following their Test series loss to England, former South African skipper Graeme Smith will be taking a fresh guard to revive his illustrious career that he left abruptly.
Smith, who will lead Virgo Super Kings in Master Cricket League (MCL), has reiterated he is keen on using the tournament as a platform to win back his place in the South African set-up.
“I was waiting for that question but I didn’t really prepare an answer to it. I guess my answer hasn’t changed,” Smith said during the press conference ahead of the MCL.
Smith said he was happy with where he was in life and, if the tournament did well, and if he felt like he could play on, then he would surely consider turning to international cricket.
“I think, right now, it will be a brave answer for me to say yes,” the 34-year-old told Gulf News and revealed that the ‘feeling of coming back was always there’ from the time he called it quits.
“I think I retired when I was 33 and obviously very young. I needed sometime away from cricket to refresh and sort out a few things in my personal life and other facets,” said Smith, who hung his boots in March last year.
“This opportunity to play for Virgo Super Kings is something that I’m excited about and I have made my objective to lead the side well. Hopefully, we will be celebrating a tournament victory at the end and take it up from there,” said Smith, who captained the Proteas side for 11 years.
South Africa’s slump to series defeat against England has already seen immediate repercussions — it saw Hashim Amla step down from the captaincy and AB de Villiers, who took charge after the second Test, also contemplating retirement from Test cricket.
Smith hence still has a chance but his schoolmate Stephen Cook has grabbed the opportunity with both hands — scoring a brilliant 100 which allowed South Africa to lay foundation for victory.
“Cook and I opened the batting for school cricket together. His father Jimmy, who also played for South Africa was a bit of an influence on my career. To see him make his debut and I know how hard it is to work was special,” said Smith, adding, “It was kind of funny I retired at 33 and he made his debut.”
Smith, who was also roped in as a consultant ahead of the second Test against England, felt that winning the final Test was a big plus for the team going into the ODIs and T20s.
“Every time you lose a big series, it is disappointing but seeing the way the guys performed in the last Test match, it was convincing. Hopefully, that will give them the confidence in the shorter format, for the T20 World Cup which is around the corner. It has been a challenging year for the guys and it is nice to see them fight back in the last Test,” revealed Smith, who was pretty impressed with the way South African bowlers bowled, especially Rabada, who finished with 13 wickets in the final Test.
