Smith's crisp bat adds spice to crunch match

Graeme Smith could not have enjoyed a more uplifting start to life as South Africa's captain.

A couple of easy victories in Bangladesh came without too many runs from the skipper, who was then just 22 years old.

Once in England, the man chosen to succeed Shaun Pollock following South Africa's 2003 World Cup debacle proceeded to achieve the cricketing equivalent of walking on water.

At Edgbaston, opener Smith made his country's highest-ever individual Test score, 277, during a drawn match that ended with Nasser Hussain quitting as captain.

Then, a few days later at Lord's, the tall left-hander welcomed Michael Vaughan to the job with a little knock of 259. This time England fell to an innings defeat.

No one could continue like that for too long. But even though Smith's runs began to dry up, the home side had to produce a fine performance at The Oval to share the series 2-2.

Both captains could feel their teams were heading in the right direction. Since then, though, England have soared to new heights while South Africa are lower than ever, at least officially.

Now, Smith's team are ranked sixth on the Test ladder, four places below Vaughan's men. What's more, South Africa have lost three of their last five series while England can boast four triumphs and only one setback - in Sri Lanka a year ago. Those stats explain why Vaughan's men are favourites to succeed.