BETWAY SA20 COMMISSIONER GRAEME SMITH INDUCTED INTO ICC HALL OF FAME

Betway SA20 Commissioner Graeme Smith was honoured on Monday evening when he was inducted into the International Cricket Council (ICC) Hall of Fame at a glittering ceremony held at the iconic Abbey Road Studios in London.

As he took to the stage surrounded by fellow legends, Smith expressed his gratitude, stating, “What a special day. It’s actually been a surreal build-up.”

Reflecting upon his journey, the former Proteas Men’s captain highlighted the wave of memories that came rushing back, "to have family and friends watching... really special,” he said, his voice tinged with emotion.

Among those present was his father, who had been instrumental in Smith's early cricketing days.

Smith reminisced fondly about his childhood, recalling how his father would take him to the nets near their home.

“I used to hit him in the shins - his shins still have bruises to this day,” he joked. “But I'm so grateful that I still have my parents around. The effort that they made to get me to where I was.

“They were very much in the background, but anything that I needed, they would make the effort to support me.

“I was at Lord's yesterday and I was thinking about when I ran through and punched the air, they were sitting in the stands, made the effort with minimal money just to be there to support. So yeah, amazing!

“Unfortunately, my mom can't come here tonight, she's helping me with the kids who are going through exams and stuff.”

Smith, 44, enjoyed an illustrious international career with the Proteas both as a player and captain.

He struck 9 265 runs at 48.25 in 117 Tests, 6 899 runs at 37.98 in ODIs, and a further 982 runs at 31.67 in 33 T20Is.

He also became the first player to captain his side in more than a 100 Tests and to more than 50 victories, reaching a crescendo in 2012 when Smith raised the ICC’s global mace handed to the No 1 Test side in the world at Lord’s.

With the Proteas on the cusp of greatness again with Temba Bavuma’s side set to face Australia in the World Test Championship final at Lord’s on Wednesday, Smith shared his vast experience with the team during a training session.

“Shuks (Proteas coach Shukri Conrad) has been very welcoming,” Smith said. “I think that's a lovely asset, like you feel included, being able to support the team and Temba.

“There's a lot of young talent. It's a big game for them, they're underdogs, but it was a quiet confidence, watching the guys prepare, just chatting to them technically about batting in England, what are the challenges, how do you think about it.

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“What's important and what I was very happy about and what made me happy is that the guys are asking the right questions. They're thinking the right way. You can just feel the determination and the hunger to do well and let's hope some of our big players pull it off.”

Fellow Proteas legend and MI Cape Town batting coach Hashim Amla was also inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame along with Smith.

“Obviously another South African, Hash, that I've shared a lot of great moments with. Hash and I are the same age. We played against each other at school [Smith at King Edward VII School in Johannesburg and Amla at Durban High School]. And then we played like 70 Tests together,” Smith said. 

“I remember a Test match in Joburg, Hash had just got back, and there was so much conjecture about his career, and he nicked it to slip, and he got dropped and got a 100 in that game, and he never looked back and became one of the greats of South African cricket 

“We were laughing earlier because we were probably the two worst Afrikaans speakers in the team. Everyone else spoke beautifully, but when we were batting together it was very broken. So, lots of great memories, and lots of great partnerships. What a player!”

Main image: ICC