Eduan Roos

Johannesburg - Graeme Smith admits that six years ago he was a show off with an obsession to prove his critics wrong.

However, the Proteas skipper who had the cricket world at his feet the past few weeks, looked “long and hard” in the mirror. Today he is humble and deeply grateful for all the praise he gets.

Biff, as his teammates call him, gripped the imagination when on Wednesday he did his level best to stave off a defeat by coming out to bat injured in the third test against Australia in Sydney.

This was in spite of medical advice that he should not venture near a cricket field for another six weeks.

“I have never experienced anything like this. It’s completely unexpected and something that bring you back to earth very quickly,” Smith said of his hero’s welcome at the airport in Johannesburg.

Even so his path to acceptance was a long and often difficult one.
“I made a lot of mistakes and bumped my head a few times along the way,” he said in a candid interview.

“What really surprised me was the manner in which the Australian crowd treated us. It was completely different to the last time we were there.”

Smith was crucified in 2005 for getting involved in wars of words with the Aussies. In South Africa he was labelled “arrogant” and a “big mouth”.

“I felt as if I had to prove myself as player, captain and person. I probably had the wrong attitude towards the public. I wanted to prove people wrong rather than plough the energy into my game. That took its toll.”

He recently consulted with a life coach and took an introspective approach.

“I had to decide how I wanted to be remembered one day and am happy with myself now. In the past the perception was maybe that I was too passionate and was over-confident, but that should not be mistaken for arrogance.

“Thanks to our performances the past two years, the team deserves to believe that it can achieve anything. There is no longer fear and conservative thinking among the guys.”

Smith consulted with Cricket South Africa’s medical experts on Saturday after he had the first of two blood injections for his elbow injury.

“I won’t be able to do much for the next six weeks, but I will definitely be watching my teammates in the one-day series,” he said.

“It’s amazing how sport brings our country together and it’s a huge privilege to be part of that.”