South Africa’s cricketers received well wishes of the highest order on Monday when President Thabo Mbeki visited them in Pretoria.
”We’ll all be rooting for you,” Mbeki told them ahead of their departure for the West Indies on Wednesday.
Team captain Graeme Smith, for his part, said the Proteas were confident of doing well in the International Cricket Council World Cup next month.
The team is based at the University of Pretoria’s high-performance centre for their final preparations.
Mbeki quipped that he would prefer the team to elect to bowl first when winning the toss.
”When we bat first I become very nervous,” he said.
Mbeki received his own personalised national cricket team shirt with ”Mbeki” and the number 15 on the back. — Sapa