Gibbs passes fitness test

Herschelle Gibbs has passed a fitness test and should be able to play in the second Test in Colombo next week. Gibbs, 30, twisted his right ankle at the training camp at Pretoria before the tour, but was included in the squad in the hope that he might recover.

"I started running today and if the ankle hadn't stood up to it then I would probably have had to go home and have an operation," Gibbs told the MWP agency after passing the test. "When it first happened the doctor recommended surgery straight away but we decided to give it a chance to heal naturally - and with lots of physio - and so far, so good.

"It might still feel worse tomorrow morning but right now I'm absolutely delighted," he added. "[Physiotherapist] Shane [Jabaar] has done a fantastic job and I'm actually ahead of schedule with the recovery. But we're going to keep working hard and take it day by day. I'm not taking anything for granted."

Andrew Puttick, the left-handed opening batsman from Cape Town, was called into the squad as cover for Gibbs, but Eric Simons, South Africa's coach, is still undecided about whether Puttick will open the batting with Graeme Smith in the first Test at Galle, or if the responsibility will be handed to Jacques Rudolph.