It wasn’t the first time Steve Waugh had reached into his bag of mental disintegrators to upset South Africa, but when Waugh accused the Proteas of not caring about the future of Test cricket in January last year, South African great Graeme Smith was unimpressed.
Former South Africa captain Smith has hit back at Waugh on the eve of the World Test Championship final, in which Australia will tackle the Proteas at Lord’s from Wednesday.
Waugh was famed for goading South Africa with words to the effect of “you’ve just dropped the World Cup” when Herschelle Gibbs spilled a chance against him at the 1999 tournament, which Australia went on to win.
Smith was taken aback that Waugh did not contact him to understand the reasons for the Proteas fielding what amounted to a third XI to tour New Zealand, which clashed with the privately-owned SAT20 League, before making his comments.
“Obviously they don’t care,” Waugh said at the time. “… If the ICC or someone doesn’t step in shortly then Test cricket doesn’t become Test cricket because you’re not testing yourself against the best players.”
No one can accuse Smith of not being approachable. Universally nicknamed “Biff”, the burly former South African captain has one of the world cricket’s best networks, always up for a chat about the game and its ills.
Australian captain Steve Waugh celebrates as South Africa’s Allan Donald is run out in the classic 1999 semi-final.Credit: AP
Many voices were raised to decry that episode, but Waugh’s rankled in particular, given the pair had once opposed each other on the cricket field and had, or so Smith thought, developed a level of mutual respect.
“He hasn’t sent me a message to ask why or how or whatever,” Smith told this masthead as he was inducted to the International Cricket Hall of Fame on Monday night in London.
“These things are a little more complicated behind the scenes, they’re not always simple. I know how it happened. It was in the calendar before things moved on, things got squashed, and you ended up with a bit of a mess.
“I respect Steve, and I respect his opinion, but sometimes guys must take the opportunity to ask and figure out. It’s just a WhatsApp away to say ‘Smithy what happened here, can you give me some insights’, and we can save a lot of public abuse between each other.
Graeme Smith plays a shot during a Test match against Australia in 2012.Credit: AP
“I’ve played 117 Tests and been captain of our team. I know, no matter how we feel about the future of Test cricket, we hope it remains intact for more than five or six teams and there’s an opportunity to keep it strong. But we know T20 is the growth into the future, with the Olympics, developing the game. To develop this product, CSA has had to take one or two tough decisions.”
Smith was one of seven inductees to the hall of fame.
The induction, held at Abbey Road studios down the road from Lord’s, provided sundry reminders of cricket’s rich and poor divide. The ICC’s new chair Jay Shah was front and centre of every possible picture opportunity, but among the audience was the revered former West Indies skipper Clive Lloyd, who prospered in part because of a vastly different financial model for international cricket.
“It’s about understanding business models and the pressure outside the top three nations,” Smith said. “There’s a lot of pressure. Look at West Indies. When you hear people say Caribbean Premier League is the most successful part of West Indies cricket then you start to worry, does the whole structure need to change in certain countries, does the financial sharing model need to change.
Graeme Smith talks to South African coach Shukri Conrad during a nets session at Lord’s.Credit: Getty Images
“There’s big questions that need to be answered outside England, India and Australia. I’m not saying South Africa’s there, we’ve put measures in place to make sure we can still be one of the top competing nations. That’s the thing about our game, it’s competitive, we’ve had battles on the field, but sometimes we’re just a WhatsApp away to understand some of the challenges that other countries are facing.”
South Africa have enlisted the help of Australia’s Ashes nemesis Stuart Broad for this week’s final.
The retired England fast bowler wore full South African uniform at training, a day after enjoying a ribeye and wine with the Proteas’ coaching group.
After they were belted in New Zealand with the decimated squad in early 2024, South Africa won seven matches in a row to qualify for the WTC final.
The Proteas’ victories came against West Indies, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan, while Australia downed India 3-1 last summer to secure their spot.
Coach Shukri Conrad said he was “tired” of addressing South Africa’s less challenging road to the final than their opponents.
“We’re here, and that’s all that matters,” Conrad said. “We get a chance to walk away as the World Test champions. Playing Australia, doesn’t get any bigger than that.
“What’s gone before counts for absolutely nothing at the minute, and we’ll be quietly confident going into this game that we can pull one over them.”
Conrad explained the lengths to which the Proteas had gone to try to retain Test cricketers, whileSmith said the introduction of the SAT20, which he now directs, had helped to keep South Africa internationally competitive.
“We’ve had a lot of politics and a lot of disruption,” he said. “So focus on winning the fans back, getting more competitive cricket on our domestic circuit and making cricket the main thing again.
“We know the importance of building a product in South Africa we can own and keep up with the world game and have a seat at the table in terms of the franchise movement. That can ultimately benefit cricket in South Africa. We all want a strong national team, men and women.”
