Although South Africa were disappointed to lose the Test series against England, a four-one victory in the one-day series was ”very sweet” said South African captain Graeme Smith after his team wrapped up the seventh Standard Bank match by three wickets on Sunday.
Smith said there had been some nervous moments in the match. ”We had them in trouble and we let it slip, but when you start becoming a good team, you still win those games,” he said.
”It wasn’t so easy batting second — it got a bit low and slow — but we did what we needed to do and that was win.”
He said what was particularly gratifying about the series victory was that it had truly been a team effort. ”We played superbly as a team. The team has really stepped up. Individuals have performed well, but the thing that stands out is that when guys have been needed, they have made the contribution.”
Smith said the man of the series, Kevin Pietersen, had played very well, and deserved the award. ”He’s carried their batting line-up when they were under pressure.”
However, when he was asked whether he was sorry that Pietersen was not playing for South Africa, his response was swift. ”No. He’s an Englishman, and we have enough good players in South Africa,” he snapped.
He praised South African coach Ray Jennings, and said the South African team were behind him all the way. ”We’ll see what happens now. There’s a messy process taking place now, and we’ll just wait and see. Jet has been superb.
”We always knew it would come to this stage.”
Regarding the whole England tour, Smith said that there was always a lot of pressure on the team in major tours such as this.
”It’s been great. These big competitive series are the ones you always want to be involved in. The crowds have been great — the support for us in the one-day series has been superb.”
He said the schedule for the one day series was very tough, but both teams had to deal with it. ”It’s damn tough to play and travel, but we knew it was going to be that way, so there can be no excuses.”
Jennings said he had not yet spoken to the team about whether or not to apply for the post of coach which is being advertised by the United Cricket Board.
”I’ll speak to them in the next two or three weeks.”
He said he did not think results alone should be the deciding factor in whether he was reappointed. ”I see my position as an ongoing process — educating them on their role in the team.”
He said he believed the mental toughness of the team had improved, and their fielding was superb.
Vaughan said that although they had lost four-one, he felt very positive about England’s one-day game.
”We pushed a really good South African team all the way on their home ground. The two big games were in Bloemfontein and Port Elizabeth. We could have won
those and gone three up.
”We didn’t, and we let South Africa back in. Today, to go from 68 for six and get to 240 was a tremendous effort by Pietersen, and by [Ashley].
”If you look at where we were last year, and where we are now, we’ve moved on a helluva lot. You put Freddie Flintoff into the setup, and I’m very positive about the future of our one-day game.”
The man of the series, South African-born Pietersen, said he was personally very satisfied with his performance in the series, but very disappointed that his three centuries had not helped England to victory.
”To see the smiles on the boys’ faces when I’ve scored a hundred — it would have been so much better to see their smiles if we won.
”To get a century in Bloemfontein was absolutely amazing. I had friends and family there, and the support of the whole team. Today’s knock was pretty special, and will probably rank up there with the best hundred I’ve ever scored.
”To turn the crowd around and have a standing ovation, after the reception I had in the first match at the Wanderers gave me tremendous goose bumps.”
Pietersen said he hoped he had done enough to attract the attention of the selectors for the Test squad. – Sapa