Graeme Smith has hinted at a return to international cricket, saying the Masters Champions League in the UAE could be the catalyst.
In an interview with The Nation newspaper, Smith, now 34, said: ‘Who knows, the MCL could be a platform back into the international game. I am asked this question [about a comeback] a lot. It does spend time in your head, especially when you see the boys struggling in India, you think you can contribute.
‘For me, I’m at the cusp of whether I should play international cricket again or not,’ he said. ‘I’m 34 now, retired at 33, there’s always that question mark of whether I can play for another 3-4 years. I know I can. I’m looking forward to the MCL and take it from there.’
‘We’ll see. I’ll go back train, prepare and get ready for the MCL.’
Smith, South Africa’s most successful captain, retired from international cricket at the beginning of last year, has been doing commentarty before being given the opportunity to play in the legends T20 series, in January and February, alongside such names as Jacques Kallis, Michael Vaughan, Virender Sehwag, and Adam Gilchrist.
Smith believes that South Africa had fallen prey to demons in their head, as much as to anything else, during the Test series. ‘When you play on tough wickets, whether it’s green, seamy wickets or spinning wickets, margins become very small and we lost out on those margins always early on in the Tests and were always playing catch-up.
‘It looked like we just got in our own head a little bit in terms of the wickets,’ he said.
But he gave his full backing to his successor, Hashim Amla, who had a gruelling tour with horrendous loss of form.
‘He’s had a tough run, we’ve all had those tough runs. He’s a man of immense character and well-respected in the environment. He needs time, it’s his first challenge as a captain now and how he bounces back from this will speak volumes for him and the team. I think we need to always give him that opportunity now to bounce back and how he brings the guys through. This England tour now becomes an important challenge for him as a leader.’
