The exit – decribed by Smith as “the most difficult… I have ever had to make in my life” (he’s forgetting some of his field placings – Ed) – comes two months after Jaques Kallis quit Test cricket. With Mark Boucher forced into retirement in 2012 the Proteas have lost a combined 430 Tests’ worth of experience in only two years.
His decision was met with mixed responses with Smith’s lovers and haters taking each other on on social networking sites. Several references are made to his leadership decisions in the one-day version of the game where his team battled to keep composure in finals and semi-finals of large tournaments, earning themselves the title as “chokers” often grabbing defeat from the jaws of victory.
Smith was the most capped Test captain in the history of cricket. He made his first-class debut for South Africa at 21 and scored 17,231 international runs (including the three he scored in his last innings).
