The South African captain Graeme Smith said on Saturday that he did not expect any major changes to the South African side after their seven-wicket defeat by Australia on the third day of the first Castle Lager Test at Newlands.
”Obviously to have Polly [Shaun Pollock] back would be a huge boost for us,” he said. ”He would have been deadly on this wicket.”
”He’s one of the most experienced seam bowlers, and just having the experience in the dressing-room that he provides is always important.
”I don’t think there’ll be too many other changes.”
Smith said he expected Pollock to be fully fit for the second Test which starts in Durban on Friday.
Smith defended the way South Africa batted, and said he did not think that more than one or two people were guilty of playing loose shots.
”Maybe in innings one there were one or two loose shots, but it was a tough wicket to play on. Not only did it seam, it was quite two-paced. I think itt’s going to be a tough series to bat in throughout the series.
”What we need is bigger partnerships,” he added. ”Both teams bowled really well, and if I have to look at one deciding factor in the batting, it would be the partnership of [Matthew] Hayden and [Ricky] Ponting that probably won them the game.
”We know that Australia are the number one side in the world — we know they’re a good team. But the exciting thing for us is that we are getting closer and closer to beating them.
”We’re taking those steps forward. The result we got in this game was disappointing, but we’ve got two Tests, in Durban and Cape Town, and those are going to be very exciting.”
His Australian counterpart, Ponting, was very satisfied with the outcome of the first Test.
”We played good Test match cricket,” he said. ”Looking back to the start of the game, it was probably a good toss to lose. It was a game dominated by the ball, and dominated mostly by our bowlers.
”The wicket never really got easier,” he said. ”We had one big partnership, and that made all the difference.”
”It’s a really good start to the series,” he said. ”We’ve done everything well in our preparations and we did everything well in the tough moments in this Test match. One-nil up in a three-Test series is a good place to be.”
Ponting had special praise for Man of the Match Stuart Clark, who took nine wickets in his debut Test. ”I don’t want to burden him with the label of the new Glenn McGrath, but he really stepped up to the plate when he was needed,” he said.
He said the dismissal of Jacques Kallis in the second over of the day had been the key to Australia’s success. ”I had a feeling on the way to the ground that we could wrap it up today, and when we got him out, I knew we could do it,” said Ponting.
Both teams will take a couple of days off before gathering in Durban to prepare for the second Test, which begins at Kingsmead on Friday. – Sapa