Cape Town - Former South African skipper Graeme Smith was honoured on Thursday at The Bradman Foundation’s Gala Dinner at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG).
The retired left-hander was inducted as a Bradman Honouree along with former Australian Test captain Bill Lawry.
Smith is the first South African recipient and joins the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Sir Richard Hadlee, Glenn McGrath, Steve Waugh and the late Richie Benaud in one of cricket’s most exclusive clubs.
'Biff' took to Twitter to thank the Bradman Museum for the honour:
"Emotional evening being made a Bradman Honouree. I Want to thank @CricketHOF & Australian people for the recognition and respect show to me."
According to the SCG website, Smith was honoured due to his leadership and courage when he led South Africa to their maiden series victory against Australia in 2008/09 and when he "courageously" batted with a broken left wrist and numb right arm in the dead rubber Test match at the SCG.
Each year up to two Bradman Honourees are chosen for their contribution to international cricket as exemplified by Sir Donald Bradman.
The award is issued specifically with regard to how much the honourees reflect Sir Donald’s expressed values including courage, honour, integrity, humility and determination.
Smith played 117 Test matches for the Proteas, making 9265 runs with 27 centuries at an average of 48.25.
Bradman Honourees:
2006 Norm O’Neill
2007 Neil Harvey, Sam Loxton
2008 Bill Brown, Arthur Morris
2009 Alan Davidson, Dennis Lillee
2010 Sunil Gavaskar, Adam Gilchrist
2011 Sir Richard Hadlee, Bob Simpson
2012 Rahul Dravid, Glenn McGrath
2013 Mark Taylor
2014 Steve Waugh, Sachin Tendulkar
2015 Richie Benaud
2016 Bill Lawry, Graeme Smith
Emotional evening being made a Bradman Honouree. I Want to thank @CricketHOF & Australian people for the recognition and respect show to me. pic.twitter.com/tGTXDu0j8U
— Graeme Smith (@GraemeSmith49) November 10, 2016