Form and injury have combined to give Graeme Smith a forgettable time of late in the one-day game, and it looks like it will be a long road back for him in ODI cricket should he choose to keep at it
| Cullinan: Smith certainly under pressure in ODIs |
Graeme Smith's ODI career could be over.
The Test captain was left out of South Africa's starting XI for the first match against India in Johannesburg - the first time Smith has been overlooked for strategic reasons rather than injury since relinquishing the 50-overs captaincy after the 2011 World Cup - and the move could signal the end of Smith in coloured clothing.
Smith has not scored an ODI half-century in eight innings, all against Pakistan. His last contribution of significance came in January's home series against New Zealand, when he scored 116 in the only match South Africa won. Before that series, in which Smith also notched up a half-century, Smith had scored one hundred and two fifties in 10 innings in 2012, and there were constant questions over whether he merited a place in the one-day team.
De Villiers admitted that this time, against India, there "just wasn't a spot open" for Smith, in what is the clearest indication yet that the combination of patchy form and niggles may catching up with Smith, especially as he has been more out than in in South Africa's ODI team recently. Smith missed the Champions Trophy and South Africa's limited-overs tour to Sri Lanka this year with injury, which unsettled the XI which was also without Jacques Kallis.
South Africa went through a painful process of trying to find an opening combination that could match the Smith/Hashim Amla partnership - which in 48 innings averages 41.40 - but could not. Colin Ingram and Hashim Amla managed two half-century stands in four attempts at the Champions Trophy but when Amla was injured for the early stages of the Sri Lanka tour, Ingram unraveled.
He partnered Alviro Petersen without success for a game, then Quinton de Kock was used with Petersen, and then Amla joined de Kock. These two showed promise as a pair with a stand of 87 in the UAE but it was still considered a given that when both Smith and Amla were available again, they would be reunited to provide stability.
They did play the first two ODIs against Pakistan at home together, and scored 12 and 9. Smith was unavailable for the third because of the passing of his grandmother, so de Kock was promoted up the order - he had been batting at No. 3 when Smith and Amla formed the opening pair - to rejoin Amla. They posted 39.
So when it came to a green-top in Johannesburg for the opening game of a series against India, South Africa were faced with a tough choice. They wanted to play the extra seamer so they had to leave a batsman out and that batsman was Smith. "I wanted to play an extra bowler so there just wasn't a space open for him," de Villiers explained.
Statistical evidence in favour of the Amla/de Kock pairing is based on too small a sample for it to top the Amla/Smith pairing but the numbers are pointing in the right direction. In eight innings, Amla and de Kock have opened together they have posted 453 runs at 50.33, with one century and two fifty-stands, including South Africa's first opening partnership of more than 100 runs since 2010. More than the numbers, it's the way Amla and de Kock combine that has left the team management keen for them to bat together - as they also do so in T20s.
"There's experience of Hash and the elegance, and then the no-fear attitude of Quinny," de Villiers said. He did, however, leave the door open for Smith, but only in the opening role. "I can't see Graeme batting anywhere else," he said. "He knows I am a captain that is very fond of playing seven frontline batsmen, but tonight we felt an extra seam bowler could be handy."
Andrew Hudson, South Africa's convener selectors has also mentioned the seven-batsman formula for South Africa's one-day XI but it would result in Ryan McLaren being left out. After his performances this year - McLaren is the team's third highest wicket-taker in 2013 despite not playing in all of South Africa's games and has the ability to lengthen the lower middle-order - it would seem a harsh decision.
It would also mean de Kock would be the player to be shifted out of position. The 20 year-old will be asked to bat at No. 3 if Smith returns. "Quinny has got two kinds of games," de Villiers explained. "He has the ability to accelerate and then pull back like you saw [against India]. I feel he can adapt a bit better than others to No. 3."
Still, there was an indication that for that to happen, Smith will have to find one-day form again and that will be difficult for him to do. Smith plays very little domestic cricket. He has featured in only one List A since December 2011, for Surrey against Hampshire, and that statistic will remain until he heads back to the county circuit because South Africa's domestic one-day competition is over.
The Twenty20s event is still to be played and Smith, along with all the other national players, will be available for their franchises for most of that tournament. Even if Smith plays in it and excels, the question will remain over whether he wants to play limited-overs cricket.
At 32, retirement should be and is a distant thought for Smith but focusing on Tests only - and staying injury-free to honour his deal with Surrey - is not, even though Smith seems keen to hang on. He does not feature in the T20 squad - he last played in October 2011 - but it does not seem to be a decision he made himself.
When South Africa crashed out of the World T20 in Sri Lanka last year, again with the batting being their Achilles' Heel, many supporters asked Smith if he had retired from the shortest format. He replied confirming he had not and was "available to play all forms of the game". He still is, but whether he gets picked is a different question.
Smith's ODI career seemingly on the wane
This article
Smith's ODI career seemingly on the wane
can be opened in url
http://naturalherbmedic.blogspot.com/2013/12/smiths-odi-career-seemingly-on-wane.html
Smith's ODI career seemingly on the wane
