Graeme Smith

Love him or hate him, you can’t deny that Graeme Smith is tough.

This toughness is one of the attributes that has won South African many games in the last few years. The way he dominated the English attack and scored 154 in an afternoon shows just how focused he was on thumping the Poms.

A target of 281 to win was doable but not a straight forward run chase. When we lost 4 of our top order quickly, doubts could have crept in.

But one just got the sense that Graeme Smith went out there to win. No bullshit.

I think Smith receives a lot of criticism for his perceived arrogance. At the end of the day, we look back at the likes of Ricky Ponting and Steve Waugh remember that they were an equally “arrogant” bunch sod – but they brought their A game when Australia went out to play and that’s why they were able demolish most sides on a consistent basis.