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Smith 'a true giant'

Cape Town - Cricket South Africa (CSA) on Thursday congratulated Graeme Smith on the occasion of his 100th Test match appearance in the first Test against England which started at The Oval in London on Thursday.

WIN: A limited edition signed Graeme Smith bat

“Graeme is a true giant of the game,” commented CSA Acting CEO Jacques Faul. “His current Test match batting average of a fraction under 50 is outstanding, particularly if one takes into account the responsibilities of leadership he has had to handle as well.

“He is South Africa’s most successful captain of all time and the only one to complete the double of away series victories over both England and Australia.

It is significant that he contributed both a match-winning and a match-saving century on the last tour of England and also set up the successful runs chase at Perth against Australia in the same year.

“More recently he scored another century to set up a famous win over Australia at Sahara Park Newlands. He is, in fact, the only batsmen to have scored centuries on four different occasions in successful fourth innings runs chases.

“In this modern era there are few leaders who stand the Test of longevity as Smith has done. He has been our captain for nearly 10 years now and remarkably is still only 31 years young. We look forward to his continued contribution in the years ahead.”

Mr. Faul also congratulated AB de Villiers on making his 75th consecutive appearance to equal the national record of Mark Boucher. He is fourth on the all-time list of those who have not missed a Test match since debut.

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