Smith unmoved by past altercations

South Africa captain Graeme Smith will go into the first Test against England at Lord’s today with no regrets.

Smith’s youthful exuberance has seen him lock horns with several high-profile opponents.

Among them are two he will face again today and for the rest of this summer - England captain Michael Vaughan and the hosts’ South Africa-born batsman Kevin Pietersen.

But at the age of 27, Smith - who was elevated to the captaincy at just 22 - reasons that many of those early exchanges were an inevitable product of the situation into which he was plunged.

Graeme Smith is focussed on the current Test series and not worried about previous altercations

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Asked if he rues any of his altercations with Pietersen and Vaughan - or more recently Shane Warne - Smith replied: “I don’t.

“I think at 22 you are trying to prove to the world and to everybody that you can handle this job.

“Everyone is questioning whether you are good enough, whether you can handle it - whether it is media, public, or the opposition team trying to put you under pressure.”

Smith has since made peace with Warne in particular and insists there is no lingering animosity, only respect for Vaughan, as well as Pietersen.

And he believes it was only such steeliness which allowed him to make a success of captaining his country when he had so little experience.

“I think being single-minded was probably the reason why I could handle the job at 22,” Smith said.

“I have also made some friends over the years. There is a mutual respect over what we all went through in that time.

“I have not really thought too much of Michael Vaughan or Kevin Pietersen - I think that is all behind us.”

Smith and Vaughan are regularly spoken of with admiration by cricket followers for their leadership qualities, and the South African holds his opposite number in high regard.

“Michael Vaughan and I started at pretty much the same time, and I have a lot of respect for him tactically,” he said.

“I think he has done wonderful things with the England team.”

Proteas skipper Smith admitted having nothing but respect for England counterpart Michael Vaughan

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As for himself, Smith believes age has improved him as a captain - and a person.

“When you are young you don’t really understand how you want to be presented or how you want to go about your work,” he added.

“I hope I have settled down and become a lot calmer - I try to think before I get involved in something.”

It was on his first Lord’s Test appearance five years ago that Smith made 259 - his second double-century in successive matches - as South Africa won by an innings on a ground where they have an outstanding record.

They did not, however, go on to win the series and have not done so in this country in the modern era.

The history makes Smith confident in familiar surroundings, and determined to see the job through this time.

“Coming back here does bring back some good memories,” he said.

“It is fantastic to come back here, just picturing what happened in 2003. If we could recapture that it would be great.”

Smith acknowledges South Africa are intent on winning a series in England for the first time since their readmission to Test cricket.

But he insists they will not fall into the trap of allowing that ultimate aim to dominate their thoughts.

“We are very aware of that but it is not our initial focus,” he said.

“We have spoken a lot about meeting the challenges that we are going to face along the way. A four-Test series is quite a lengthy period.

“Lord’s is the first one up so we just really want to be the best we can be here, then move on to Leeds to meet the next set of challenges.”