Graeme Smith Quotes (87 Quotes)


    South African crowds are going to support us but we also expect them to be dignified and not cross the lines that were crossed in Australia.

    The appointment of Jacques as vice captain is most welcome because he has so much talent and experience to impart to the other players. His knowledge of all facets of the game will help my captaincy considerably.

    Australia has always been a scary and daunting prospect for South African teams.

    From a personal point of view, I think that is the only real disappointment -- not scoring as many runs as I know I can get and what I am capable of.

    It won't be 'this is the only chance you're ever going to get', it will be a run (of games) and hopefully he can take the opportunity and can produce something. As a South African team I believe we need to take a few more risks with certain selections going forward.


    We might have to have a few more boys coming over and the news isn't too good with Jacques.

    The ICC might not be too happy, but I think the experiment should end now. If we're not going to be playing with super-subs in the World Cup next year, why should we keep playing with them for the next five or six games

    It's not our place to sit here and moan and groan about those things. We've just got to go out and make things happen for us.

    If the super-sub is not going to apply at the World Cup in 2007, then there doesn't seem any point in carrying on using it for four or five matches.

    I think it was a very strong performance. The top six we had is very young in terms of age and games and to go up against some of the best bowlers in the world and to play the way we did today showed a lot of character.


    Credit to England - they've played hard and grafted hard for five matches and probably deserved their series win.

    I think everyone who had the ball really worked hard today, I don't think the pitch provided a lot for anyone,

    This tour was without doubt the most difficult one of my life.

    They only gave us one option, and we had no positive response in the match situation after their first innings. It surprised us when they batted on so long - it was two or three hours more than we thought they would.

    I actually didn't say anything, but a few of the guys spoke and we knew that momentum was going to be the key. I don't think you can sit down and plan to chase 434 runs. No one considers that. We spoke about this being a freaky game and we thought that if we could get momentum anything could happen.

    No matter how tired we are after the tours to India and now here we have to find a way of drawing ourselves closer for the final 10 days. It is our target to reach the final and to win it.

    The whole team wanted to be positive and wanted to go for a win. Cricket needs positive games. It doesn't need teams batting out and drawing games. For us, as a team moving forward, we're young and we need to be positive. To set a declaration and to try to go for a win was in our minds the only way to play. The negative option never came in.

    My one-day form has been very good over the last year and I'm looking to carry it on from India.

    They didn't beat us just in the cricketing department. They beat us with the commitment and passion.

    If anything, they (Australia) have been under more pressure than us going into this test match.

    Today will go a long way for me confidence-wise.

    It doesn't look good. It looks like he'll be going home, but I'll wait for the medical staff to make that announcement.

    It's nice to win a tight game against Australia and it's a massive evening for all of us. We have got to come back down to earth.

    Definitely. We're not disappointed with the fact that we got bowled out in the last innings, the disappointing thing for us is that we had opportunities but didn't take them. We always knew that batting last against the two spinners would be difficult but it was in the middle of the game that we lost it.

    I mean, 434 the Australian total is a bit sick, hey. It will probably have to go down with the tied Tests as one of the greatest cricket games of all time.

    If we'd taken our opportunities, things could have been really different. Both guys we put down in the first innings went on to make hundreds.

    I don't think he undermines his effectiveness but I think he puts him under a lot of pressure when it comes to decision making and maybe he doubts his own decisions sometimes because Shane is offering so much advice all the time. It's hard to sift through what is good and what is not good, at times.

    What we are trying to do against them at the moment does not work and we'll have to arrive with a new game plan.

    Both guys we put down in the first innings went on to make hundreds. We really had the momentum and Mike Hussey's hundred at the back (of the first innings) took it away from us.

    Mickey (Arthur) and I are working hard on driving out the conservative nature we've maybe had in the past.

    We are very similar and it is a very hard place to come and tour. In the past South Africa have had a big fear of failure but I think we have come to terms with that. We have come here and I know people have called us unimaginative but we are more open. We are looking forward to playing in front of Australian crowds and playing in Australia.

    It is a concern, it was a huge loss. It meant myself and (Justin) Kemp had to bowl when we didn't want to.

    That's why I say we can learn a lot from the Aussies about how they all work together in the interest of their cricket, even though we don't always like what they're saying.

    To play someone for four or five months definitely takes its toll, it's like Groundhog Day some times.

    We have come here with a different mindset and being more aggressive tomorrow is the way we are going to go. We are not going to try and be steady and more defensive, we are going to be more aggressive.

    The game is about creating pressure. He's probably come out ahead in this game. But the whole series, two major nations competing, we've come here and we mean business. Both teams are playing the game very hard and very tough.

    I think that they were the team that were choking, if that's the word, under pressure a little bit at the back end.

    He wants to bowl in the tough situations, he wants to bowl when the field is up and he wants to bowl at the death. He wants to be in the mix of things and he's a much more aggressive character, he's a wicket taker - at least he wants to take wickets - so hopefully that will produce wickets down the line.

    Hopefully Chris Burke and the others will take their club form and rise to the occasion of the international side.

    He has had a good season and his club have had a fantastic season.

    I also thought (Mark) Boucher was brilliant.

    With the Cricket World Cup just more than a year away, South Africa hopes to use the series against Australia to iron out flaws and gear them up for the event.

    Incredible. We'd struggle to repeat a match like that. I think it compares with the tied Test between Australia and the West Indies at Adelaide as one of the greatest matches in cricket history.

    We've made a number of releases on the subject and if it happens again how we react will be another thing.

    Obviously, Jacques gives us another bowling option, and he'll (also) give us a lot of stability somewhere in the batting order.

    He had a re-scan today and it doesn't look good. It would pretty much look like he's going home.


    We came out here expecting a lot of verbal in the papers and things being said. If anything they have been under more pressure than us going into this test match. We have just got on with what we have been doing. We have been very focussed on the things we have been able to control which is our preparation.

    To be fair everyone can see we haven't had certain things go our way but I also believe that you make your own luck.


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