Coach http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Gary-Kirsten-c58527 helped the team mature: Graeme Smith – Cricket News Update
South Africa’s star opener, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/GC-Smith-c1473, has credited Gary Kirsten for the way the national team has grown, claiming that the head coach inculcated a sense of maturity in their outlook and attitude.
“Gary brings a much more relaxed, mature approach to the way he runs the team,” Smith said. “We've grown a lot over the last few years and need someone to take us to the next level in terms of maturity, and the way we play and think about the game.”
The Proteas recently clinched two series wins against New Zealand away from home, defeating the hosts 2-1 in the T20Is, and sweeping the ODI series 3-0, ending the Kiwis winning streak (which began when they hosted http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Zimbabwe-c3045 earlier and clean swept their
opponents in every format) by humbling them on home ground.
With an upcoming Test series which will commence on March 7, both teams will be looking to prove their worth in the longer format of the game, and at the moment the visitors appear to have an upper hand.
However, it was a different story in the last Test series Smith played in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Smith-c90598 claimed that a lot had changed,
most prominently the team’s attitude towards playing, which had become more confident and aggressive.
“Before, we used to tour wanting to see how well we could do; now we tour thinking 'we've come to here to win'. It's a very different thought process,” he said, adding that the team had been unsure and lacking in experience back in 2004, but this time around
their mindset was more attacking as opposed to defensive.
Smith and his team will be relying on a drop in confidence in the host team, and the 31-year-old opener claimed that they would be looking to exploit that.
“Maybe their confidence is not as thick and strong as it was a few months ago. Hopefully we can get into that and open it up a little bit," he said.
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