Ambition of being best has stuck: Smith.

Byline: ANI

Melbourne, Jan.1 (ANI): South African cricket captain Graeme Smith has said that the ambition for placing his team as the number one in the world has stuck in his mind after the two-nil defeat of the Australians in the current series.

In an article appearing in the Courier Mail, Smith says that since he was 12 years old, he has been writing his ambitions down on a piece of paper.

"Aside from a couple of obvious ones (to please my parents) like passing exams and behaving well, at the top of the list I wrote that I wanted to captain the South African cricket team. Obviously that came true 51/2 years ago, but it was only the beginning of my ambition," Smith says.

"On our last tour to Australia three years ago I thought it was important to show that we would not be intimidated, on or off the field, and I also wanted to deflect attention away from the younger guys in the team. We lost the series and I was criticized, understandably, but there was method in my approach," he claims.

This time, he said, the Proteas decided to concentrate all their energies on their game and ignore everything they couldn't control.

"It's fair to say we started talking about this tour almost as soon as we arrived home three years ago. The challenge now, as it was with my captaincy, is not to treat the achievement as "mission accomplished" but to use it as the start of a brand new journey, a new era," he says.

"Soon after losing 2-0 three years ago, Mickey Arthur and I drew up a three-year plan. We identified what we believed we needed to win in Australia and then identified the players we thought could do the job. We then backed them and supported them, especially through the lean times," he adds. (ANI)

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