Graeme Smith begins corporate career

Less than six months after retiring from international cricket, former South Africa captain Graeme Smith has already picked up a pair of other jobs. Unlike many of his team-mates, who chose coaching or commentary as careers after cricket, Smith has opted to climb the corporate ladder and is officially an employee of financial services company Momentum, who sponsor South Africa's ODI and women's team.

This is in addition to Smith signing as tournament director of South Africa's 20-over domestic competition , a position he accepted last month.

His first project for his new bosses will be as a patron for the M2E bursary scheme, a joint venture between Momentum and CSA that provides for the financial and educational needs of talented cricketers from seventh grade upwards. Candidates are identified according to academic results, on-field skills and monetary backgrounds and those selected have their school fees, text books, stationery and other costs paid for.

This will be Smith's first foray into the field of corporate social responsibility "My passion is obviously cricket, however, with Momentum, I have the chance to step up my contribution. I am confident I have the leadership capability to add value to the company," Smith said. "Time and time again it is shown that education is crucial to our country's success; so I am very pleased that through Momentum I can throw my support behind the bursary programme."

Danie van den Bergh, head of the Momentum brand, told ESPNcricinfo that Smith is being primed for a "long-term career" at the company, which will also involve "a lot of cricket activities." Apart from financially backing the South Africa's one-day squad and women's team, Momentum is also involved in a corporate cricket sixes event, whose proceeds go to charity, and in the eKasi Cup, an annual tournament that takes franchise cricket to South Africa's lower-income areas.