GRAEME SMITH announced on Wednesday his intention to stand down as national captain of the Standard Bank Pro20 International squad with immediate effect and as captain of the Standard Bank ODI squad at the conclusion of the 2011 ICC World Cup next year.
He will remain captain of the Castle Test squad and will be available for selection for the Proteas in all three formats of the game.
As expected, South Africa thrashed the West Indies.
I don’t know why this would arouse much interest at all. This once great bastion of cricket has become the perennial whipping boys of world cricket. While most teams still hold some ability to play well at home, West Indies, where any team would normally shudder at touring there before, is now considered almost a guaranteed win for most team.
Our arrival in Barbados was delayed by some four hours due to a problem with the charter flight which was fortunate because it meant we could watch England’s last qualifying match against Slovenia. A tense affair with England playing marginally better than they have so far in this World Cup and just doing enough to qualify.
Victory over the West Indies in the 1st Test was comprehensive and thorough. Given that play didn’t start until 14h30 on the first day, winning by the close of the fourth day translates into a 3½ win. Celebrations followed and the next day we were on our way to the island of St Kitts and the venue for the 2nd Test starting today.
The Marriott Hotel & Resort is an enormous hotel which seems to spread over a couple of acres. I am fortunate enough to have a room in the main building thus negating the ten minute walk to the breakfast room every morning.
Trinidad’s geographic location as the most southerly of the West Indian islands situated just north of Guyana which, of course, is actually part of mainland South America, does not auger well for dry weather. We have had a fair amount of rain during the week off between the last ODI and the 1st Test due to start today (Thursday). The weather has already interfered with the two day warm up match meaning that the South African’s had a day of batting but only just a few overs of bowling.
Wherever you are in the world if the Springboks are playing an international you have to make every effort to make sure that you watch it. On Saturday the boys played against Wales and much research had gone into the start time and a venue in which we could watch. Four of us, all South Africans, set off after breakfast for the cricket ground and the sports bar therein called “All Out”. We were told that the game started at 10h00 on Fox Sports but we were only aware that the billing was simply ‘International Rugby’.
