Pollock to captain South Africa

Two years after his sacking, Pollock gets another chance to lead © Getty Images Enlarge

With Graeme Smith suspended and Nicky Boje having returned home for health reasons, Shaun Pollock, who was sacked after South Africa's failure at the 2003 World Cup, has been asked to lead the side for the final two one-day internationals against the West Indies.

Smith earned himself a four-match suspension after repeatedly falling behind the over-rate. Having been docked 10 percent of his match fee in the second game at Jamaica, he was fined 30 percent in Barbados, and his failure to learn from past mistakes provoked the strictest response from Jeff Crowe, the ICC match referee.

South Africa decided against an appeal after learning that the suspension could be extended to as many as eight matches.

Smith has 24 hours in which to appeal but the team management decided not to lodge an appeal as the punishment could be increased to a suspension of eight games by the International Cricket Council. South Africa's next assignment is a home series against New Zealand but Smith's ban could kick in even during the ICC Super Series matches in Australia later this year, provided he gets selected for the World XI. Smith's place at the top of the order will be taken by AB de Villiers, who was in magnificent form in the Test matches.