Ntini the weakest link

One of the questions Graeme Smith will be pondering about ahead of the Boxing Day Test is who to drop to make place for returning pace spearhead Dale Steyn. Rob Houwing writes on the Sport24.co.za website that the answer is Makhaya Ntini, because both rookie Friedel de Wet and Morne Morkel were quicker and more penetrative than the 32-year-old playing his 100th Test.

The veteran fast bowler took his bows and doffed his cap to the avalanche of salaams. But try as he did, he simply could not muster the mojo to excel simultaneously for the national cause.And if he could not do so on such an illustrious stage as his centenary match, what price the 32-year-old markedly rectifying things just a few days further on at Kingsmead after five days of punishing Highveld sunshine? Gallingly, the most experienced of the three South African fast bowlers by a mile at SuperSport Park was the primary omission as a “go to” factor by Graeme Smith.

In the South African daily Business Day, Neil Manthorp lauds Graeme Smith for the manner in which he ensured South Afria kept up their intensity and belief in the face of the long Pietersen-Trott partnership.