Injury may have forced him out of on-field action but Graeme Smith is in no mood to let it stop him from celebrating South Africa's triumph in Australia and the inspirational skipper will come to the airport to receive his teammates, who now are the world's No 1 ODI side.
Injury may have forced him out of on-field action but Graeme Smith is in no mood to let it stop him from celebrating South Africa's triumph in Australia and the inspirational skipper will come to the airport to receive his teammates, who now are the world's No 1 ODI side.
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Smith was hailed as 'Captain Courageous' during the Test series for his inspiring leadership that gave the Proteas a 2-0 triumph. He also won hearts by coming out to bat despite a fractured finger and an injured elbow to save his side in the inconsequential third and final match.
Smith missed the one-dayers, in which Johan Botha led South Africa to an emphatic 4-1 triumph, but said he couldn't keep his mind off it and spoke to coach Mickey Arthur everyday during the series.
"It's been more than two weeks since I came home to nurse my injury I've been on the phone to Mickey quite a bit but it's going to be wonderful to welcome the boys back after their magnificent achievement," said Smith, who will be in Johannesburg to receive the Proteas at the airport.
"It's always fantastic to be at the top of the ICC World rankings and it's been great to see the youngsters coming in and contributing to the success of the tour. A tour to Australia is always huge, there's so much pressure from the media and fans and they've handled it exceptionally well," he said in a statement.
"We are in a building phase with our ODI team and we are realistic about where we want to go but we have to give credit to them for their success in that series."
Meanwhile, an ecstatic Cricket South Africa lauded the team's effort with CEO Gerald Majola saying that the triumph has proved to the critics that the Proteas were capable of beating any team in the world.
"Very few experts gave the Proteas much chance of success on this tour, but they return home tomorrow (on Saturday) as heroes having won the Test and ODI series in convincing fashion against the world champions in their own backyard.
"The historic Test win was something very special under Graeme Smith's great captaincy and now the cherry on the top comes under Johan Botha's captaincy in the ODIs with this series win and the World No 1 ranking," he said.
Majola praised Smith's captaincy during the Tests and appreciated Botha for guiding the team when Smith was ruled out due to injury.
"The inspirational captaincy of Graeme Smith and acting ODI captain Johan Botha also adds considerably to the talent now available to South African cricket. The squad is also backed up by an outstanding management team under coach Mickey Arthur and a national selection panel headed by the legendary Mike Procter," he said.
But Majola insisted that the triumph, however special, will not make the team complacent.
"But these stunning victories will not take the Proteas' feet off the ground because they know the Australians are going to fight back to regain their pride and their status in world cricket," he said.
"This has set the stage for what is going to be classic cricketing encounters in all forms of the game when Australia tour South Africa from next month. Both teams are to be congratulated on the excellent spirit shown on this past tour, and CSA is sure that the same spirit will prevail on the next tour," he added.
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