Smith mindful of past mistakes

22 July 2008

Neil McKenzie and Graeme Smith set the seal on South Africa's 10-wicket victory

South Africa captain Graeme Smith will do all he can to ensure history does not repeat itself in the remainder of the npower Test series against England this summer.

The tourists have failed to beat England despite going 1-0 up on their last two tours of this country.

After South Africa’s 10-wicket victory in the second Test at Headingley, they again find themselves in an advantageous position approaching the final two matches - which will come back to back, starting at Edgbaston next week.

Smith himself was in charge when England completed the second of those comebacks, to draw 2-2 in 2003.

Still mindful of that disappointment, he knows South Africa have done the hard part by closing out an unlikely draw in the first Test at Lord’s - and then producing a thrillingly professional performance in Leeds.

But clearly there is still work to be done. “There’s a lot of cricket to be played in this series,” Smith warned. “In England-South Africa series, teams have fought back from 1-0 down.”

Even so, there was much in his team’s most recent performance - big hundreds from Ashwell Prince and AB de Villiers, and a much-improved showing from veteran fast bowler Makhaya Ntini - to convince Smith that continued improvement is likely.

“If we do that we really believe we can go a long way to winning the game,” he predicted, casting his mind forward to Birmingham.

“I think we said at the start of this game it was nice to know we were level in the series. It probably took a little bit of pressure off us.

Makhaya Ntini wheels away after removing Andrew Strauss on the third evening

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“Taking England five days (at Lord’s) and only performing at 60% of our potential gave us confidence.”

South Africa’s preparation for their next Test assignment will involve a low-key tour match against Bangladesh A at New Road - and Smith, one of several likely to be rested at New Road, knows a short period of justified satisfaction now is as important as tight focus when the time is right next week.

“We are going to enjoy this moment,” he said. “This is something we’ve been aware of all the time - it’s nice to know we are on the up and improving.

“Edgbaston is always going to be a tough game. It’s a place where England play well - as is Headingley, a pressure cooker for any away team with the crowds, the media and everything else.”

Smith was especially pleased to see Ntini, a notoriously slow starter of series, take two important top-order wickets in England’s second innings on the third evening at Headingley.

“It was nice to see him come back,” said the captain. “He bowled with a lot more zip, hit the gloves a lot harder. Those two wickets were big wickets for us.”

Input from bowling coach Vinnie Barnes and former South Africa all-rounder Shaun Pollock helped Ntini return to form.

But it is the bigger picture that is pleasing Smith most.

Reflecting on his achievement in surpassing the previous best 27 Test victories by a South Africa captain - held by Hansie Cronje - he was delighted to claim ‘ownership’ of the current team.

“I feel we have progressed really nicely in the last year and a half,” he said. “It feels like it’s my team. It feels like I’ve had a really big influence in the last year and a half, two years.”