South Africa’s leading strike-bowler Shaun Pollock has passed a fitness test and will be in the team for the second Castle Lager Test against Australia, which starts at Kingsmead on Friday.
Pollock missed the first Test after spraining a ligament in his sacroiliac joint during the fourth one-day international in Durban two weeks ago.
”Shaun’s come through his fitness test well,” South African captain Graeme Smith told journalists on Thursday. ”We have to decide whether we are going to go in with an all-seam attack, or whether a change of pace would be beneficial. We’ll probably look at the weather tomorrow [Friday], and decide then.”
Smith said the return of Pollock would be a tremendous boost for the team.
”We all know Polly’s skills,” he said. ”He would have been outstanding in Cape Town. It’s also his experience around the dressing room, his calmness. He knows the conditions in Durban very well, and he’s an outstanding performer for us.”
The person most likely to make way for Pollock is all-rounder Andrew Hall, although he might keep his place if South Africa opt to go into the Test without a spin bowler.
”Hallie and Bodge (Nicky Boje) are probably the guys to go up against each other. Hallie would probably be the unlucky one,” said Smith. ”But the other guys are out-and-out bowlers, and he’s an all-rounder. He’s back in the Test squad, which he hadn’t been part of for some time.
”He’s done well in all areas [batting, fielding and bowling] and he always gives 100%. He’s a great guy to have in the dressing room. It’s definitely an asset for us to have him in the squad as a backup for anyone who might be injured, or if we don’t play a spinner.”
Smith added that they had asked for a good Test wicket. ”Kingsmead is always bouncy and has lots of carry, and there’s always something for both batter and bowler. The new ball is always a difficult time to bat, but if you can get through that, there’s always the opportunity for plenty of runs.”
Like his vice-captain Jacques Kallis, Smith dismissed comments by Australian legspinner Shane Warne that Australia had a psychological hold over South Africa. ”We don’t take what he says too seriously,” he said.
”The Australians have some very experienced players, who’ve been able to perform at key moments in the game. Although we’ve been very competitive, we just haven’t been able to deliver the killer blow at key moments.
”But we’ve come a long way. We have a lot of young players in our team and all we can do is focus on what needs to be done in each session. We’re learning all the time, and that will pay off in the long run.”
Australia captain Ricky Ponting said his team would continue to play the brand of cricket that had served them well. ”We’ve got a good record against South Africa,” he said. ”They were very competitive in Australia, but when we had the chance to nail them, we did it.
”We’ll want to keep them under pressure throughout the Test, and we believe that if we can do that, we can win the second Test and wrap up the series.”
Ponting said he expected the Kingsmead wicket to be a good cricket wicket.
”I’ll have a look at it, and speak to the ground staff about what it is likely to do, but I don’t think we’ll make too many changes to our team.”
South Africa have a good record at Kingsmead, having lost just one of the 13 matches played there since 1992. They have won six and drawn six.
The last time they played Australia at Kingsmead, they won by five wickets after setting a South African record for the highest fourth-innings score of 340 to win a Test. — Sapa