Graeme Smith, also known as “Biff”, is a professional cricketer, born on February 1, 1981 in Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa and studied at King Edward VII School in Johannesburg. He is a left-handed opening batsman and has been the skipper of the South African side since the departure of Shaun Pollock after the 2003 World Cup.
Graeme Smith made his test debut for the South African side on March 8, 2002 in a match against Australia in Cape Town. He played in the number-three position and scored 68 runs in the second innings of the game. Graeme Smith was promoted as opener in a match against Bangladesh and he responded by scoring his first double century. He carried on this good form in the home series against Pakistan and set a record opening stand of 368 for South Africa. In 2003, Graeme Smith was named the captain of the South African side following the resignation of Shaun Pollock and thus became the youngest captain in South African cricket history.
During the South Africa’s tour of England in 2003, Graeme Smith had a prolific run, scoring two consecutive double centuries. In the first game, he scored 277 and set the record for the highest individual score in an innings by a South African. Graeme Smith carried on the momentum to the second Test and guided his team to an innings victory by scoring 259, which is the highest score made by a foreigner at Lord’s. Graeme Smith was chosen as the Wisden Cricketer of the Year 2004 for his dream run. In 2005, he guided his team to a series victory in the West Indies by scoring three consecutive centuries in three Tests, including 148 at the Queen's Park Oval, 104 at the Kensington Oval and 126 at Antigua. On February 29, 2008, Graeme Smith put on a world-record partnership of 415 for the first wicket along with his teammate Neil McKenzie in a match against Bangladesh. As of 2008, Graeme Smith has scored a total of 5,761 Test runs from 70 matches at a staggering average of just over 49, with 16 centuries and 22 half-centuries under his belt.
Graeme Smith made his One Day International (ODI) debut on March 30, 2002 in a match against Australia at Bloemfontein. After becoming the captain, he guided his team to a 20- match winning streak in 2005. On March 12, 2006, Graeme Smith led his team to a historic world-record win over Australia by chasing down the target of 434. In this match, he scored 90 runs from 55 balls in a second-wicket partnership of 187 runs with Herschelle Gibbs, which helped his side to a 3–2 series victory over the Australians. On February 4, 2007, Graeme Smith became the first player in ODI history to smash six fours in an over bowled by Naved-ul-Hasan of Pakistan. In early 2007, under his captaincy, his side emerged as the number one side in the official International Cricket Council (ICC) rankings for ODI cricket. As of 2008, Graeme Smith has scored a total of 5,046 runs, including 7 centuries and 36 half-centuries from 135 ODIs at an average of 40.69.
October 21, 2005, he made his Twenty20 International debut in a match against New Zealand at Johannesburg.
In 2008, Graeme Smith signed with the Indian Premier League (IPL) side Rajasthan Royals and made his debut for this side on April 24, 2008 in a match against Deccan Chargers. He was a member of the squad that went on to clinch the inaugural edition of the 2008 IPL by defeating Chennai Super Kings in the final by three wickets. In this tournament he teamed up with Swapnil Asnodkar and provided great starts for his side. In the first edition of this tournament, Graeme Smith scored a total of 441 runs from the 11 games at an average of 49. He finished fifth in the top ten batsman list of this tournament, with a personal best of 91.
