The conditioning camp in Switzerland worked for us, says http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Gary-Kirsten-c58527 – Cricket News Update
Having beaten http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c56013 in the first of the three-match Test series at the Oval, Gary Kirsten, the South African coach, has expressed that his side is hungry to be crowned as the world’s best Test team by winning the on-going battle.
The Proteas dismantled the Poms by a massive margin of an innings and 12 runs in the just-finished Test, to go 1-0 up in the series. The competition is keenly watched all around the globe because it will decide the number one ranked
Test team.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/GC-Smith-c1473 and company looked a far superior unit in all three departments of the game, although the home team started the competition as favourites because of their recent performances in international cricket.
The next Test of the series will commence from August 2 at Headingley, which will be followed by the last encounter at the Lord’s.
The South African mentor, who was a prolific opening batsman in his playing days, expressed that his team is geared up to win the remaining two matches as well, but understands that his side cannot afford to take England lightly.
Kirsten said that the Proteas will not stop working hard, despite taking a lead in the series.
"We know we want to become the best cricket team in the world and we know what we need to do to achieve that," Kirsten said. "This is the next hurdle. There's a lot of work to be done and there's a lot of focus needed. We are focusing
everything on preparation at the moment."
The former cricketer took his team to Switzerland before the tour for a bonding camp, inviting immense criticism by different ranks for not getting more net practice. Kirsten however, maintains that the time spent in Switzerland helped
the players understand each other and get mentally fresh ahead of a crucial series.
"The only way you can really effectively prepare for Test match cricket is by playing Test match cricket," the coach added. "It's very tough to get yourself into a Test match intensity mode playing first-class cricket. We tried a
few different things. The guys came into this Test match mentally fresh."
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