Mark Smit
9 January 2009
Johannesburg — GRAEME Smith expects a few disappointments along the way in the one-day series against Australia, "but the return leg of the Test series in SA is going to be one helluva series".
Speaking after a hero's welcome at OR Tambo International Airport yesterday, Smith, who received a standing ovation from the assembled media, was at a loss to describe the overwhelming reaction to his team's historic 2-1 Test series win against the Australians.
"It's been absolutely incredible," he said, "but perhaps the most warming thing to me was the reception we got on the last day when we had those standing ovations. That was very rewarding."
Smith was not, however, overly optimistic about the limited-overs team's chances of success over the next few weeks.
"It's still a very young team and in the development stages. I think it will be quite tough for them and there will be disappointments along the way."
The priority clearly is to win the return leg of the Test series in front of his home crowd.
"They will come here very eager to beat us. They will probably have (seam bowler) Stuart Clark back and it is going to be one helluva series now that they know what we are about. But I think we know now that we have what it takes to beat them."
Smith rated the fight-back in Perth, when his team chased down 414 to win the first Test, as the best performance of the tour. "After the previous evening, when we had lost late wickets, it was an incredible comeback the next day."
He said the performances of the younger players in the squad, such as AB de Villiers and JP Duminy, had probably been the most satisfying outcome for him.
"It is wonderful to see the young guys responding as they did and it shows we are in good shape for the future."
Smith said he believed his team had won the Australians over by providing them with tense, competitive cricket over five days in each of the Tests.
"They really appreciated the strong opposition. They have dominated for so long that they really wanted to see good competition, and we gave that to them."
Smith paid tribute to what he called a "very strong team" around him that had combined to get the South African team to this pinnacle of Test achievement.
"I have had a wonderful team around me and they have given the players the support and freedom to express themselves. For me 2008 was a very good year, with the runs I was able to score, despite the injuries."
Smith said it was important for the whole cricket community in SA to take pride in the performance of the team.
"There will be ups and downs for the one-day side for a while, but the Test team is strong and the players on the fringes are ready to come into the set-up -- as JP Duminy showed so clearly in Melbourne.
"It was very disappointing for Ashwell Prince not to be able to play, but the support he gave to the team and to JP in particular was fantastic. He behaved in a way befitting a vice-captain and he is still very much part of the team.
"He was a main contributor to our successes along the way in 2008, and his chance will undoubtedly come again."
Smith said, with some amusement, that he had detected no soft underbelly in the Australian team, which has undergone profound change over the past 18 months.
"The Australians will always be tough to beat, but they don't like being put under pressure. They have been so dominant for such a long time that they are not used to it, and we were able to put them under pressure."
The Australians arrive in SA in mid or late February for the next phase of what is now being billed as "the clash of the Titans".
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