South Africa captain Graeme Smith finds himself embroiled in a legal row for his unflattering comments about former board chief Norman Arendse.
Smith was harsh in his assessment of the former Cricket South Africa chief in his book, “A Captain's Diary 2007- 2009” which hit the stands recently.
Writing of Charl Langeveldt's baffling selection ahead of Andre Nel for the India tour last year, Smith wrote, “The CSA president was becoming more and more involved in every facet of the game. I think, at various times, he wanted to be captain, coach, CEO, president and convener of selectors, which became very frustrating.”
Langeveldt eventually withdrew from the India tour. Smith said team unity saw SA through Arendse's tenure.
“It is an enormous credit to the team we managed to be successful throughout the Arendse presidency, because this wasn't the only curve ball he threw in our direction,” wrote Smith.
Stung by the remarks, Arendse, who stepped down from his CSA post last year, said Smith's observations were outrageous. Arendse's legal counsel Dines Gihwala told 'The Times' that he would write to the publishers, Jonathan Ball, to remove the “defamatory” remarks.