Proteas captain Graeme Smith will be leading his team for the 50th time in a Test match in the first Test against the West Indies, starting at St George’s Park on Wednesday.
Smith is only the second South African captain, after the late Hansie Cronje, to achieve this landmark. Cronje captained the Proteas on 53 occasions.
South Africa have not had a good Test record at St George’s Park in recent years, winning only one of the past four Tests played there, but Smith is undeterred.
”It’s fair to say we haven’t played our best cricket down here in Port Elizabeth, but that doesn’t mean we can’t play good cricket,” Smith told journalists. ”The thing is, we know we’re capable of playing well around the world. We’ve proved that, having beaten Pakistan in their own country, and having beaten New Zealand so convincingly at home.
”We know that we’re a tough team to beat at home, and hopefully we can prove that over the next five days, starting on Boxing Day.”
South Africa are likely to field the same team that did duty in the two Test victories against New Zealand, although veteran Shaun Pollock may come into the reckoning on a pitch that suits his style of play.
Smith stressed that spinner Paul Harris would almost definitely play. ”It would have to be a very, very green wicket for us to go into the Test without a spinner,” he said. ”We need to develop our spinner. With us playing around the world, we’ve often been found wanting because we haven’t taken the time to develop one.
”The pitches we’ve grown up on have traditionally been better for fast-bowlers, but we have to look at things from a broader point of view.”
While Smith will be leading his team for the 50th time in a Test match, West Indies captain Chris Gayle will be making his Test debut as captain. However, it is not yet clear whether Gayle will be fit to play. He has been battling to overcome a hamstring injury he picked up during his team’s tour of Zimbabwe.
”I’m feeling pretty good, but we won’t make that decision until match day,” said Gayle, who said he had been frustrated by having to sit on the sidelines. ”I want to be out there with the guys and get in the groove again.”
Although many of the West Indies players have not played South Africa in a Test before, Gayle, who has often performed very well against South Africa, said he thought that he and Shivnarine Chanderpaul had enough experience to guide the rest of the team.
”I always have an important role, because I’m always the one facing the first ball. Now I’m captain, there is some added responsibility and I’ll have to deal with that. But the guys have been around for some time now. Most of them have played 10 or more Tests. They know what Test cricket is all about, and they will just have to maintain their discipline and take the opportunities offered and put in some action in the middle.” — Sapa