The New Steve Waugh?

Some people have argued that Graeme Smith is very similar to Steve
Waugh. He is aggressive, is destined to become a great batsmen, with a
test batting average of 54 and an ODI average closing in on 40. Although
he does not have the captaincy record of Waugh's, his team is developing
and are on an unbeaten ODI streak of 17. He really is turning into one of
the finest cricketers around. What's your opinion?

there is no way smith can compare to steve waugh. waugh was a great captain and a great batter. greame smith is still developing.

Can people who vote please state their opinions because there are already
5 'no' answers with only two replies about the reason for their choice.

They are totally different animals - no cricketing similarities at all actually!

Originally posted by saadadvanced7 can you please expand on that sledger??

Okay Saad I'll break it down into different attributes.

Batting
           Steve Waugh batted with a concentration level that few attain and he did it for hour after hour. Smith , though capable of long innings can still be rash. They have their favourite scoring areas too - Smith accummalates heavily through the on-side and particularly through midwicket. Waugh 's favourite area was through point region - great slashing cuts being his trademark.
        Waugh , defensively was very correct , had quick feet to the slow stuff and limitless patience.
       Smith is no slouch defensively , but certainly isn't classical.

Bowling
           Waugh was a brisk medium pacer , nice away movement and especially early in his career could be a partnership breaker of note.

        Smith bowls offspin with varying degrees of success. He certainly gets it off the straight , but probably underbowls himself. To improve he needs more overs under his belt out there in the middle


Captaincy
             Here there's a huge difference between the men. Waugh was highly confrontational and was not shy of ****ing off the opposition. Whether that was when he was batting of in the field , he loved to wind up the enemy. He's probably THE king of the antagonistical approach to captaincy - he riled every opposition skipper of every country! He was also extremely aggressive in trying to win cricket matches - schrewd declarations (although not as hair-raising as Mark taylor's!) giving his bowlers a chance to win the game. His field settings were also adventurous - optimsing the chance of a wicket.
          
   Smith TRIES to be a similar type of leader , but he lacks the courage , the experience and the nouse. Too many times he chases the ball - when a 4 is hit , he then moves a man to that position on the boundary to cut it off - it's negative cricket and knocks the confidence of the bowler. Generally his field settings lack imagination - much the same irrespective of who's batting. His declarations are safe - it's a South African failing , Cronje was exactly the same. Often there isn't enough time left to push for the win after he declares - but they won't lose either!

Smith might evolve into a Waugh clone - it's not a bad ambition , but he's nowhere near there yet. He doesn't command the respect that Waugh had throughout the cricketing world , although he is a fine player.

Let him be his own man and hopefully he'll leave the cricket to do the talking and stop some of those stupid comments he's prone to make when under pressure.

Graeme Smith continues to prove his ability as a captain... Unbeaten
streak of 19 - 5 better than Waugh.

You cannot say Smith lacks experience or courage, just look what happened during the SA v NZ ODI. Graeme Smith substituted Ntini in the 2nd ODI and Ntini could not believe it happened to himself, then Smith got the best out of Ntini for the rest of the series. Now that takes courage to take out one of your best bowlers on the day.

Smith is only 24 and has years ahead of him captaining his side, it is a bit too early to compare Smith to Waugh but I would say that they are alike but Smith has more ability, great batsmen and will be a great captain. I don't know how many watch the 20;Twenty final at the Brit Oval but in the final Smith showed he has great ability. Believing in his bowlers and keeping slips in and with results, then facing Flintoff in a heated battle and Smith came out on top.

smith bowls off spin and waugh bowls medium pace, greame smith is developing at the moment.