Australia v South Africa, Group A, St Kitts

South Africa will put heat on Symonds

Andrew Miller in St Kitts

March 23, 2007

Graeme Smith: 'The game is not going to define the World Cup, but it's an important game all the same' © Getty Images

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Graeme Smith, South Africa's captain, believes Australia are taking a big risk in throwing their recuperating allrounder, Andrew Symonds, into the mix for such an important fixture as the Group A decider that takes place at Basseterre on Saturday.

Although both sides have qualified for the Super Eight stage of the tournament, the winner will carry forward two crucial points that could make the difference in the race for the knock-out stages, and on Thursday Ricky Ponting described the clash as "as important as a final or a semi-final".

Australia have been as good as their word in announcing that Symonds will play instead of Brad Hodge, a mere seven weeks after undergoing bicep surgery. But Smith said that his side had been expecting his recall, and had planned a testy reception for him.

"It's going to be risky, he hasn't played much for a while now," Smith said. "He's going into a game with a lot of unknowns about him and he's going to be carrying a lot of responsibility. We're prepared for it and we'll take it as it comes.

"I think he [Symonds] realises there is going to be a lot of pressure on everybody going into tomorrow," Smith said. "He's a cricketer coming back into such a big game after a lay-off, and it will be a huge challenge for him. He's produced some terrific performances for Australia in all facets and he's a guy you've got to respect, but I guess under pressure you're going to see whether he's ready or not."

Symonds is not the only perceived weak link in the Australian line-up. In the absence of Brett Lee, the Aussies have turned to their rookie Shaun Tait to provide an express pace option, and Smith was not convinced that the understudy was quite up to the mark. "Brett is a world-class cricketer," he said. "His run over the last two years has been brilliant. He bowls at pace, with accuracy, and he's got a lot better since the first time that I played against him.

"He's become a world-class performer and matchwinner for Australia, so he's going to be huge loss for them. They seem to use Tait in a similar manner, but he's a little bit less consistent. He's the type of guy that if you can get on to, he becomes a very difficult guy to set a field for as a captain. We've got to treat him with respect, but if we can get guys in against him, who knows what the potential is?"

The last time South Africa met Australia in the World Cup was in that memorable tied semi-final at Edgbaston in 1999, and Smith was convinced that the scars of past failures were not about to undermine his current generation. "There have been one or two disappointing losses in the past," Smith said. "But they're things that we've learned from and I think this team is quite unique from teams that have played in past environments.

"We're here to win tomorrow and we're confident about our chances," he said. "Tomorrow's game is not going to define the World Cup, but it's an important game all the same. At any World Cup you're going to require a little bit of luck and there's no doubt in my mind that we have the potential to perform well tomorrow and the rest of the World Cup."

In a subtle display of one-upmanship, Australia have already named their XI for Saturday's game, but Smith was not tempted to follow suit. "We're pretty confident where we want to go," he said. "There's one or two options we're looking at, but we want to have a look at the wicket first. The XI we put out on the field is the XI we feel best strategy-wise is the best to play tomorrow."

That strategy seems certain to feature an all-seam attack, plus the part-time spin of Smith himself. The only real question surrounds the identity of the fourth seamer, with both Charl Langeveldt and Andre Nel making persuasive cases for inclusion. Either way, Smith was braced for a thrilling contest.

"It certainly has the potential to be a cracker," he said. "Both teams have an awesome amount of talent, an awesome amount of respect for each other, and the quality of the way of the wicket's played, the ground, it bodes well for a big game tomorrow."

Australia (probable) 1 Adam Gilchrist (wk), 2 Matthew Hayden, 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Michael Clarke, 5 Andrew Symonds, 6 Michael Hussey, 7 Shane Watson, 8 Brad Hogg, 9 Nathan Bracken, 10 Glenn McGrath, 11 Shaun Tait.

South Africa (probable) 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 AB de Villiers, 3 Herschelle Gibbs, 4 Jacques Kallis, 5 Mark Boucher (wk), 6 Ashwell Prince, 7 Justin Kemp, 8 Shaun Pollock, 9 Andrew Hall, 10 Charl Langeveldt, 11 Makhaya Ntini.

Andrew Miller is UK editor of Cricinfo

© Cricinfo

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