Untamed bravado.

Willpower:

Pronunciation:'wil-?pau?(-?)r\
Function:noun
Origin:1858

-The unwavering strength of character to carry out one's wishes.

Graeme Smith born.1st February,1981 will have gone to sleep on 2nd August,2008,perhaps with the most satisfied smile on the face of a test captain ever.No,not to permanently leave a legacy with many a void yet to fill,but with the knowledge of the fact that he will perhaps be remembered as the bravest skipper to have ever lead his nation on a cricket field.

In the process of leading his side to be the first South African team to have registered a series victory in England after 4 long decades,Smith has minted a new synonym in the dictionary right next to the word 'willpower'.That of his own name.Resolution of such irrepressible proportions was never before witnessed in test cricket and will take more than a special outing to ever surpass.Arguments may fall out of that particular assumption of abundant magnitudes,but the truth will remain.Graeme Smith has led his team in a battle not of the mind,of soul,of character,of power or of pride.He has finally been able to make peace with his own self and achieved for his team what no one else has before in their long and contentious past and has made immortal sound frugal inside 341 minutes of taking to the field with a bat,in a scenario of pressure which would have made a chowder of most batting captains in present day cricket.

Pain is associated with mortals if Smith was to be believed on the day of the triumph.To think of it,he was actually contemplating pulling out of the match for a back strain and yet stayed on the crease for more than 6 hours at a stretch and when most of his peers would have wanted to come back afresh and finish the game a day later,Smith remained glued to his resolve of finishing the task at hand by taking the extra half hour to complete the formality within 30 balls.Procrastination and Graeme Smith are two sides of a magnet.And if it was ever possible for victory to be more satisfying,the winning runs came off Kevin Pietersen.

This is not a story about the journey of a 22 year old hefty lad being the youngest man to ever lead his nation.This is not about an individual striking unremitting back to back double centuries not fully aware of the politics of international cricket in a land which refused to admit his ancestors into the realms of normal civilization.This is certainly not just about the man holding on to otherwise humane factors like hope but obstinate resolve and a imperiously stanch drive to set himself and his team apart from the world.This is about the making of a test cricketer,a leader,an extra ordinary sportsman of nerve wrecking patience and fortitude who has succeeded in not merely overcoming but superseding his demons and murdering with frightening fatality,a legend kept alive for almost half a century.

South Africa's evolution since the post apartheid era has been overwhelmingly harrowing to say the least.People have put on the skipper's cap and have worked their soul off to make a team out of 10 other men unsure of landing themselves in controversies in issues least pertaining to cricket.It is not to say that Smith is the greatest cricketer the country has ever produced.No.That would not only be unjust,it would be ridiculing the stature of greats like Shaun Pollock,Cronje or Kepler Wessels.Just like Smith,every one of them or for that matter any other captain of a team at the highest level has displayed the size of their hearts at various stages of their cricketing lives.But Graeme Smith does not set himself apart as a class batsman or just an emotional and passionate team man.

What does set him apart is his aptitude to have been able to construct a team which refuses to die down under circumstances least known to the human mind as cataclysmic.Smith has been able to make each one of his team mates deliver at some or the other stage of them being part of the team,whether it be the cool headed Amla,the ever dependable Kallis,sucking out the best possible from the hastily evaporating sting of Ntini,the bone shattering pace of Dale Steyn or the ambiguous talent of the Morkel brothers.Smith has been able to sap every ounce of the resources handed out to him and the recent victory over the Englishmen in spite of the absence of the unswerving and the defiantly consistent Steyn only reinforces that fact.His knack of excavating the best talent in the country was manifest in his decision to support the return of his opening partner Mckenzie,previously considered to be a superfluous blockage in the squad and using his comeback to aid his team time and again with double century partnerships manufactured at considerable ease.

With chapters that have haunted him and his country men for decades been finally closed and sealed for good measure,Smith's next assignment is the upcoming encounter with the Aussies in December.A month which will see many cricket lovers consuming all of their sick leaves to catch up on a duel which promises the best the world has seen in recent times.It is sure to be bigger than an Indo-Pak encounter or for that matter an India-Aussie clash or even the Ashes.The cause for intrigue is not how Smith and his team respond to what is expected of them.Because the Protea's attitude,quite simply,is going to be,play to win.

What does interest the world is how soon are the mighty Australians going to have a run for their money in the ICC rankings?If the prospect of Nadal taking over the emperor's crown this month has brought a few frowns on the faces of tennis lovers worldwide,Smith and company are only going to be applauded and cheered on to the throne if ever such a likely situation does arise.The reason for that is not awfully complex.

Success has always won friends.Failure-only enemies.And Graeme Craig Smith has never needed to make friends.They have always created themselves for him.South Africa is a team on a roll.On a roll to be the best in the world.And for the man who has taught them to dream and then achieve,it must be anything but lonely being on top of the world.