During South Africa's tour of England in 2003, he made double centuries in consecutive Test matches:[3] 277 at Edgbaston,[4] and 259 at Lord's.

Born and raised in Johannesburg to Scottish parents Graham and Janet, Smith was educated at King Edward VII School.

[17] Smith married Irish singer Morgan Deane, at St Bernard Catholic Church in Claremont, Cape Town in August 2011.

"You can know an opponent as a cricketer," Royals captain Shane Warne, with whom Smith had had multiple dustups in the past, wrote afterward, "but you only start to know him as a bloke when you play in the same side.

It brought together players from all countries to share ideas, swap experiences, and take the game forward worldwide.

On 1 November 2012 Graeme Smith was announced as the new captain of Surrey County Cricket Club starting in the 2013 season.

[32] Smith made his Test debut for South Africa in 2002 in Cape Town against Australia, batting at number three and scoring 68 in the second innings.

[36] Following the 2003 Cricket World Cup and Shaun Pollock's subsequent resignation, Smith was selected as captain for South Africa's next Test.

The decision was criticised as it was felt that he had shown 'few leadership credentials':[37] He had played only eight Test matches and 22 ODIs before being given the captaincy.

[5] His 277 remained the highest individual Test innings scored by a South African until November 2010, surpassing the previous record of 275 held jointly by Daryll Cullinan and Gary Kirsten;[41] his 259 remains the highest score made at Lord's by a foreign player, breaking the record of 254 set by Sir Donald Bradman in 1930.

[44][45] In Test matches also South Africa suffered a poor run with series losses to England, India, and Sri Lanka.

They did nevertheless win a home Test series against the West Indies (with Smith and Gibbs sharing their third 300-run opening partnership[46]).

[53] Pride was restored when Smith led his team to victory in South Africa's win over Australia in a One Day International at the Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg, on 12 March 2006.

[58] As captain he led the South African cricket team through 20 consecutive undefeated matches in One Day Internationals in 2005.

[61] During the second Test against Bangladesh at Chittagong in begun on 29 February 2008 Smith (who scored 232) and Neil McKenzie (226) put on a world record 415 for the first wicket.

[66] The result provided Smith with personal vengeance against Michael Vaughan for denying South Africa a series victory in England in 2003 and defeating South Africa at home in 2004–5; Vaughan resigned as captain of England after the Edgbaston match, in an echo of Nasser Hussain's resignation at the instigation of Smith's batting five years earlier.

In December 2008 he captained the first South African side that won a test series against Australia on their soil, in the course inflicting the first home defeat on the opponents in 16 years.

[69] After South Africa lost to New Zealand in the quarter-finals of the 2011 World Cup, Smith resigned as ODI and Twenty20 captain.

[78] However, in April 2020, following the postponement of the IPL owing to COVID-19 concerns, his contract as director of CSA was extended to further two years up until March 2022.

At the subsequent hearing no evidence could be found and charges were dropped against Smith, who immediately demanded an apology from Bravo.

[81] Bravo, backed by the West Indies Cricket Board, refused to do so and received a hail of criticism from an indignant South African press while finding support at home as a human rights campaigner.

In 2021, he was accused of racism allegations during his playing career and the matter was taken into consideration at the Cricket South Africa's (CSA) Social Justice and Nation Building (SJN) transformation public hearings.

The report claimed that he had engaged in racially biased and discriminatory behavior on three counts during his tenure as captain of South African test side and during his three-year run as CSA's director of cricket.

[85] It was revealed that the then CEO of CSA Thabang Moroe headhunted Smith to appointed him as director of cricket despite the interviewing process for the relevant job position was still taking place.