Smith in for long haul

Graeme Smith has seen off two England Test captains during his tenure as South Africa’s figurehead and hopes to inflict misery on a third starting today.

Smith, 27, was the opposing skipper in the final matches for both Nasser Hussain and Michael Vaughan and will today head to the middle with old rival Kevin Pietersen for the final npower Test at the Brit Oval.

His five-year reign has seen South Africa return to the top two in the official Test rankings.

Only three men in Test history have captained their country more times than Smith, whose 61st match in charge represents a chance to wrap up a 3-0 series success.

“I feel a lot more relaxed in the job, in terms of being myself,” said Smith. “I feel more comfortable with everything that is around me and I have matured into the job nicely.

“I think about things a lot more now and am far less impulsive than I used to be - I have settled down a lot.

“The other bonus is I really feel like this team is my team, I feel like I have developed it, got youngsters in that I felt could benefit the team.

Graeme Smith plans to continue as Proteas captain after the tour of England

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“It is a wonderful feeling when you get success, when you have taken certain risky decisions, backed certain players and they have started to come through for you.”

Australian Allan Border holds the record for the most number of Test caps as a captain with 93, a total well within Smith’s reach.

But he concedes there is “a shelf life” to international captaincy and he wants to orchestrate a smooth handover to his successor.

“There have been times in my captaincy when I have thought ‘this is a tough job, how long can you do this?’ It certainly has gone through my mind,” he said.

“I was very young when I took the job on, so there were going to be a lot of ups and downs for me. There were going to be the big highs and the big lows and I was going to make mistakes.

“Michael Vaughan probably got to his finished article a lot quicker than I got there, in terms of the team he wanted, the way the team was playing.

“I feel like I have been getting there in the last year and a half. But there is a shelf life and I would love to develop someone to take over.

“If there is someone to take over your job, then you leave the team in a better place. It makes you feel a lot better walking away.

“I don’t want to think too far away, I like to meet each challenge as it comes along, and I have a future plan on where I would like to take this team.”

And whether or not Smith does set a new high for Tests as captain, he feels he can play on as a foot soldier at the highest level.

“I could, yes,” he said. “I see a role of me doing that at some stage in my career. To captain for 10 years is a long time. I would like to do that at some stage.”