I wouldn’t have taken the job if I didn’t think I could make a difference, and I don’t think the team see me as a 22-year-old. They’re all behind me, they I know I lack a bit of experience and there are senior players who can help They do believe I have a good feel for the game. I don’t see myself as a 22-year-old or anything, I just go about life.”Smith was destined to play for South Africa from an early age because of his brutal left-handed batting. He was also captain of most of the sides he played in, so that was written in the stars too.

He grew up quickly when he left home at 18; the timing of his promotion was the surprise. Smith had played a mere eight Test matches and had not been an original selection in the World Cup squad. In a way, then, he was still on the fringe.But the World Cup was to hasten everything. South Africa were eliminated at the first stage from a tournament being held in their own country and which the entire population expected them to win. It was as though it was their divine right.Through a mixture of misfortune and cock-up – and who knows, divine intervention – it all ended in tears.

It did not take long for Shaun Pollock, the incumbent captain, to become the fall guy. There seemed no point in having an interim leader, so Smith was asked to ride into town on a white charger.There was clearly something not right with South Africa’s team. They won plenty but they could not shake the reputation for being chokers when the going got tough. And there is something else about Smith’s ascendancy to office. He never played under Hansie Cronje.Pollock’s side could never quite shed the Cronje link.