Graeme Smith will rejoin team in time for the second Test – Cricket News Update
South Africa Test captain Graeme Smith will rejoin his teammates in England in time for the second Test against the Poms, commencing at Leeds, Headingley, on Thursday, confirmed Cricket South Africa on Monday.
The 31-year-old Transvaal-born cricketer returned to Cape Town last week, immediately after guiding the Proteas to an innings and 12 runs victory over England, at The Oval, to be with his Irish pop star wife, Morgan Deane in the birth of their first child.
Morgan gave birth to a baby girl named Cadence Christine Smith, last Wednesday, July 25, 2012, and Smith arrived just in time to witness the birth of his daughter.
The left-handed opener, who smashed an exquisite century in his 100th Test match at The Oval, last week, missed the drawn two-day tour match against Worcestershire, at Worcester. In his absence, his deputy AB de Villiers filled in his place as skipper. The CSA and team management is confident that missing the tour game would not affect performance of jet lagged Smith in the second Test.
South Africa’s middle-order batsman JP Duminy said that the whole team was happy for their skipper and excited to have him back for the Leeds bout.
"It's always good to have him back, the leader of our team. We're looking forward to having him here again," said the 28-year-old left-handed batsman from Cape Province.
Smith, the veteran of 100 Tests and 181 One Day Internationals, took over as South Africa captain back in 2003, at the age of 22 years and 82 days, and has to date led the Proteas in 92 Tests, winning 43 and losing 26. Besides being an astute leader, the Transvaal-born is also a promising top-order batsman, who averages above 50 with the bat in 100 Test appearances.
South Africa’s innings triumph over England last week was their first win at The Kia Oval, which came at the back of a record triple century from Hashim Amla and phenomenal centuries from skipper Smith and veteran all-rounder Jacques Kallis.
The innings and 12 runs victory gave the tourists 1-0 lead in the three-Test series, and now they need to at least draw the next two five-day fixtures against the Poms to usurp them as the Test No. 1 Test side.
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