Johannesburg, Aug. 2: After being present in South Africa to witness the birth of his daughter, Proteas captain Graeme Smith is now in Test playing mode, and realistic about his team’s chances against England in the Headingley Test.
Smith, who rejoined the squad on Monday at Leeds, said he is technically and mentally ready for the encounter, but added that he was wary of the challenge the England team would pose to retain their top dog status in Test cricket.
“I’ve had a little bit of time to get over the high. It has obviously been an amazing experience for me, I have had some time with the guys to settle down and to get focused on what is an important five days ahead,” Sports24 quoted Smith, as saying.
“We are quite respectful and realistic about what lies ahead. We know that getting the result at The Oval took at lot of hard work and many tough times during the match, which we won. We have come back down to earth and have focused on our preparation at Headingley,” he added.
“We are very respectful of England and what they bring to the challenge, they are still the No 1 team in the world. It’s a fresh game, both teams go into the game evenly matched and it all starts over again tomorrow (Thursday),” he said.
Smith will equal Australian Allan Border''s world record of 93 Tests as captain during the Headingley Test match, which starts on Thursday.
© ANI
